External female genitalia of six species of the genusMeccus(Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)

Abstract

Triatomine classification is based on morphological characteristics. Studies have been conducted to improve their identification by observing many characteristics. However, there are problems of differentiating among highly interrelated species and new criteria are required. The purpose of this study was to determine the morphological differences in the external female genitalia of M. pallidipennis, M. longipennis, M. picturatus, M. bassolsae, M. mazzottii, and M. phyllosomus in order to distinguish among species using scanning electron microscopy. Observations were made of the dorsal, posterior, lateral, and ventral views of the female external genitalia for each species. In the six species we studied, relevant differences were observed in the dorsal view of the X segment, as well as the IX, VIII, and VII tergites. In the posterior and lateral view, the most visible differences were registered in the gonocoxite size of the segments VIII, IX, and X. Finally, in the ventral view of the VII sternite, differences among species were observed in the size of the inflection in the top and upper corner. Our results show that it was possible to differentiate among the triatominae species for each of the four views by using a scanning electron microscope to analyze morphological characteristics of the VII, VIII, IX, and X abdomen segments. Journal of Vector Ecology 42 (2): 271-278. 2017.

Biological parameters of the triatomine,Meccus phyllosomus pallidipennis, fed on two bloodmeal sources under laboratory conditions

“…Mexico has 30 vector triatomine species, with eight members of the Triatoma and Meccus genera posing a risk of T. cruzi transmission (Guhl, ). Furthermore, in Mexico, those six groups of the revalidated Meccus (Carcavallo et al ., ; Bargues et al ., ), namely Meccus phyllosomus phyllosomus (Burmeister), M. phyllosomus bassolsae Alejandre‐Aguilar, Nogueda‐Torres, Cortez‐Jimenez, Jurberg, Galvão, Carcavallo, M. phyllosomus mazzottii (Usinger), M. phyllosomus picturatus (Usinger), M. phyllosomus longipennis (Usinger) and M. phyllosomus pallidipennis (Stål), have been the focus of discussion by scientists, with discussions mainly on their proper taxonomic rank (species vs. subspecies) as well as their inclusion in the Triatoma or in the Meccus genus (Bargues et al ., ; Rivas et al ., ). A detailed related explanation can be found in the study by Martínez‐Ibarra et al .…”

Morphology of the terminal abdominal segments in females of Triatominae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

“…Having proven useful, this technique was used in the descriptions of R. montenegrensis Rosa et al (2012), R. marabaensis Souza et al (2016) and R. taquarussuensis Rosa et al (2017). Recently, Rivas et al (2017) compared this feature in six species of the genus Meccus Stål.…”

Triatoma brasiliensis species complex: characterization of the external female genitalia

“…For taxonomic purposes the tool was also applied to complement the description of Rhodnius montenegrensis (Rosa et al 2012), R. marabaensis (Souza et al 2016), R. taquarussuensis (Rosa et al 2017) and Nesotriatoma confusa (Oliveira et al 2018) and in the characterization of 35 species distributed in seven genera (Rosa et al 2012, 2017, De Oliveira et al 2015, Dos Santos Souza et al 2016, Mendonça et al 2016, Rivas et al 2017, Souza et al 2017, Rodrigues et al 2018). Here, the morphological study of the female external structures of the species of the T. brasiliensis complex was analyzed for the first time and provided a relevant contribution for the group.…”

“…Here, for the first time, the morphology of the external genitalia of the females have been analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in the T. brasiliensis complex. This technique has been applied in several other studies in order to broaden the specific concepts and relationships within triatomine groups (Rosa et al 2010, 2014, De Oliveira et al 2015, Rivas et al 2017, Rodrigues et al 2018).…”