FEEDING-BEHAVIOR OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF CHAGAS-DISEASE VECTORS STIMULATED WITH BLOOD SOURCES AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

1. The feeding behavior of six triatomid species toward latex condoms filled with blood at 26 +/- 1 and 6 +/- 1-degrees-C was observed for 4 h. 2. The species studied were Triatoma infestans, Triatoma brasiliensis, Triatoma vitticeps, Triatoma pseudomaculata, Rhodnius prolixus and Panstrongylus megistus, and 34 to 348 insects were studied in each group (average, 190). All the life stages of each species were used. 3. Although most insects (80%, average for 6 species) preferred the warmer blood, 54% of the individuals of all species fed on blood kept at 26-degrees-C. For Triatoma pseudomaculata, a higher proportion of insects fed on blood at 26-degrees-C (92%) than on blood at 36-degrees-C (65%). 4. These results suggest that bait containing insecticides which are effective through the digestive tract may be useful in the control of these vectors even at room temperature.