Panstrongylus geniculatus (Latreille, 1811)

Panstrongylus geniculatus (Latreille, 1811) View in CoL

Distribution. Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal, EspÍrito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Pernambuco, PiauÍ, Rio de Janeiro, Rondônia, Roraima, São Paulo, Sergipe and Tocantins.

Public health importance. It is one of the most widely distributed triatomines in South and Central America ( Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979, Leite et al. 2007). Although this sylvatic species is rarely found inside dwellings ( Dujardin et al. 2000, Depickère et al. 2012), recently, it has been reported as domiciled, posing a risk of Chagas disease transmission ( Valente et al. 1999, Patterson et al. 2009, Reyes-Lugo 2000).

Remarks. It has been collected in dry and humid wild habitats, and it can feed on marsupials, rodents, armadillos, bats, birds, and pigs ( Valente et al. 1999, Patterson et al. 2009, Sandoval-Ruiz et al. 2012).