Authors: Gürtler, R. E.; Oneto, M. L.; Cecere, M. C.; Castañera, M. B.; Canale, D. M.

Source: Journal of Medical Entomology, Volume 38, Number 2, March 2001 , pp. 147-152(6)

Publisher: Entomological Society of America

Abstract:

We successfully applied the phenolphthalin (Kastle-Meyer) test used in forensic chemistry to distinguish between feces from triatomines and other domestic arthropods in sensing devices used for vector surveillance. All black or dark brown, but not white or yellow, fecal smears from laboratory-reared or field-collected Triatoma infestans Klug, Triatoma guasayana Wydgozinsky & Abalos, Triatoma sordida Ståhl (recently revalidated as Triatoma garciabesi Carcavallo, Cichero, Martínez, Prosen & Ronderos) tested positive, whereas dejecta from cockroaches and spiders, crickets, beetles, predatory bugs, and domestic flies tested negative. Black or dark brown dejecta from female Aedes aegypti L. and Cimex lectularius L. bedbugs also tested positive. In sensing devices installed in bedrooms of 11 houses in Amamá, rural northwestern Argentina, where neither cimicid bedbugs nor argasid ticks had been found over the years, only 62% of the black or dark brown fecal smears attributed to triatomines by a skilled observer tested phenolphthalin-positive. After insecticidal spraying, when bedroom areas were not colonized by triatomines, only 33-40% of the black or dark brown fecal smears in sensor boxes attributed to triatomines by another skilled observer tested phenolphthalin-positive. Eleven (79%) of the 14 houses with dubious or nontypical triatomine feces tested phenolphthalin-positive at least once during 1993-1995. Our study introduces a low-cost, simple and effective procedure for the identification of triatomine feces. The test, as a helpful adjunct to sensing devices used in triatomine surveillance, will aid in the accurate detection of infestations and the determination of the need for insecticide application.

Keywords: Triatoma infestans; Triatoma guasayana; Triatoma sordida; Chagas disease; surveillance; sampling

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2001-03-01

More about this publication?

• Journal of Medical Entomology is published bimonthly in January, March, May, July, September, and November. The journal publishes reports on all phases of medical entomology and medical acarology, including the systematics and biology of insects, acarines, and other arthropods of public health and veterinary significance.
  
  The journal is divided into the following sections: Morphology, Systematics, Evolution; Sampling, Distribution, Dispersal; Development, Life History; Population and Community Ecology; Behavior, Chemical Ecology; Population Biology/Genetics; Molecular Biology/Genomics; Neurobiology, Physiology, Biochemistry; Vector Control, Pest Management, Resistance, Repellents; Arthropod/Host Interaction, Immunity; Vector/Pathogen/Host Interaction, Transmission; Vector-Borne Diseases, Surveillance, Prevention; Direct Injury, Myiasis, Forensics; Modeling/GIS, Risk Assessment, Economic Impact. In addition to full-length research articles, the journal publishes interpretive articles in a Forum section, Short Communications, Rapid Communications, and Book Reviews.
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