Triatoma pseudomaculata Corrêa & Espínola, 1964

Galvão, Cleber, Gil-Santana, Hélcio R. & Oliveira, Jader de, 2024, The taxonomic catalog of the Brazilian fauna: biodiversity and geographical distribution of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Brazil, Zoologia (e 24006) 41, pp. 1-28 : 14

Triatoma pseudomaculata Corrêa & Espínola, 1964

Distribution. Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, ParaÍba, Pernambuco, PiauÍ, Rio Grande do Norte, Sergipe and Tocantins.

Public health importance. This species has been collect- ed in the bird nests, hollow trees and under bark; frequently found in peridomiciliar environments in the semi-arid (“caatinga”) environments ( Carcavallo et al. 1999) and it is able to feed on cockroaches ( Freitas et al. 2005, Pontes et al. 2011). It has been found naturally infected by T. cruzi , but this species occurs in low numbers and was not considered an important vector of Chagas disease before 1980s ( Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979). However, this species is in the process of domiciliation ( De Assis et al. 2007) and it can present a high natural T.cruzi infection rate ( Sarquis et al. 2004). One case of T. cruzi transmission by this species to a woman was reported in Ceará State ( Diotaiuti 2009). So, this species is becoming more important as a vector at recent years.

Remarks. This species is morphologically very similar to T. maculata , both being regarded as the same species until 1964 ( Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979). Belisário et al. (2007) showed no differences in reproduction patterns, and they are able to cross, generating infertile hybrids. However, in the same year, Santos et al. (2007) performed an enzymatic, morphometric and cytogenetic comparison of them and stat- ed that both species belong to distinct evolutionary lineages.