Triatoma dimidiata

Triatoma dimidiata
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Suborder:	Heteroptera
Family:	Reduviidae
Genus:	Triatoma
Species:	T. dimidiata
Binomial name
Triatoma dimidiata Latreille, 1811

Triatoma dimidiata is a blood-sucking insect whose range extends from northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru), throughout all the countries of Central America and into Southern Mexico. It is among the most important carriers of Trypanosoma cruzi, the flagellate protozoa that causes Chagas disease. Dimidiata has been found in rock piles, caves occupied by bats, hollow trees occupied by mammals or birds, and other diverse ecotopes. However, their presence in human abodes is usually happenstance; people tend to bring them indoors with their firewood. When in the nymph form they may camouflage themselves from predators by scraping dust over their dorsal abdomen, a behavior also observed in T. phyllosoma, T. nigromaculata, Panstrongylus geniculatus, P. megistus and P. herreri nymphs. Moreover, due to geological past in Mesoamerica such as forest loss, and rising temperatures, there has been an increase in Triatomine bugs infestation.^[1]

• Zeledón R (1981) El Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille, 1811) y su relación con la enfermedad de Chagas. Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia. Costa Rica