Rhodnius robustus Larrousse, 1927

Rhodnius robustus Larrousse, 1927 View in CoL

Distribution. Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, PiauÍ (This occurrence needs to be confirmed as it was based on secondary data in the manuscript by Gurgel-Gonçalves et al. 2008), Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins.

Public health importance. This species can be found in sylvatic, peridomiciliar and domiciliar environments, and has been considered as an important vector of Chagas disease. It is associated with rodents, marsupials, bats and birds and feeds on rodents, marsupials, bats, lizards, frogs, and humans ( Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979). It is naturally mixedly infected by T. cruzi and T. rangeli ( Dias et al. 2014b) and is an extradomestic vector of Chagas disease in western Venezuela (Feliciangeli et al. 2002).

Remarks. It has been collected on palm trees ( Attalea maracaibensis , Scheelea sp. , Acrocomia sclerocarpa , Maximiliana regia , Orbignya speciosa , Mauritia sp. ) and on epiphytic bromeliads ( Aechmea sp. ) ( Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979). The feeding behavior of this species was studied by Rubio et al. (2013) under laboratory conditions.