''Triatoma infestans'', commonly called winchuka or vinchuca in Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Chile, barbeiro in Brazil, chipo in Venezuela and also known as "kissing bug" or "barber bug" in English, is a blood-sucking bug (like virtually all the members of its subfamily

Triatominae The members of the Triatominae , a subfamily of the Reduviidae, are also known as conenose bugs, kissing bugs (so-called from their habit of feeding from around the mouths of people), or vampire bugs. Other local names for them used in the Amer ...

) and the most important

vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...

of ''

Trypanosoma cruzi ''Trypanosoma cruzi'' is a species of parasitic euglenoids. Among the protozoa, the trypanosomes characteristically bore tissue in another organism and feed on blood (primarily) and also lymph. This behaviour causes disease or the likelihood ...

'' which can lead to

Chagas disease Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by ''Trypanosoma cruzi''. It is spread mostly by insects in the subfamily Triatominae, known as "kissing bugs". The symptoms change throughout the ...

. It is widespread in the

Southern Cone The Southern Cone (, ) is a geographical and cultural subregion composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Traditionally, it covers Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, bounded on the west by the Pac ...

countries of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. This region has joined the control intervention called ''Southern Cone Initiative'' managed by the

PAHO The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) in charge of international health cooperation in the Americas. It fosters technical cooperation among member countries to fight communicable and non ...

. During the ''Beagle'' survey voyage,

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

noted in his journal for 26 March 1835 having "experienced an attack, & it deserves no less a name, of the ''Benchuca'', the great black bug of the Pampas. It is most disgusting to feel soft wingless insects, about an inch long, crawling over ones body; before sucking they are quite thin, but afterwards round & bloated with blood, & in this state they are easily squashed." Richard Keynes describes this ''Benchuca'' as being ''Triatoma infestans''. Darwin is speculated to have died from chronic

Distribution

''T. infestans'' has both a wide range of

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s/ecologies and geographic areas it inhabits - the former being the reason for the latter.

Ecological distribution

''T. infestans'' is almost an exclusively domestic species, especially as a household pest in the Cochabamba Valley in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and parts of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. There remain a few freeliving populations in Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. Tends to displace other Triatominae vectors of Chagas including '' Panstrongylus megistus'', '' T. sordida'', '' T. brasiliensis'', and '' T. pseudomaculata''.

Geographical distribution

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

(only widespread from 1955-1964, likely by immigrants from the south to

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

, likely continuing to be spread by internal migration),

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

(anthropic transportation),

(especially as a household pest in some areas),

(especially as a household pest in some areas).

Biology

Defecation

Defecation is central to the ''T. cruzi'' transmission cycle of Triatomines. There is no direct transmission by feeding, instead deposition of parasites is ''associated'' with a bloodmeal but occurs solely by defecation. Trumper and Gorla 1991 find transmission to be inversely correlated with vector density: Crowded areas tend to have ''T. infestans'' interrupting each other, and interrupted feedings do not provide as much as a completed bloodmeal. ''T. infestans'' is unlikely to defecate when not sated and so rarely transmits. Low vector density areas therefore have high rates of transmission. . . .

References

* *

External links

Information on ''Triatoma infestans'' and other members of Triatominae
by Andreas Rose

by Fernando Otálora-Luna {{Taxonbar, from=Q135020 Reduviidae Insect vectors of human pathogens Chagas disease Insects of Argentina Insects of Bolivia Insects of Chile Insects of Peru Insects described in 1834 Taxa named by Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug