Comparison of methods for the capture of triatomines (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Attalea butyracea palms in the Eastern Plains of Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: Studying triatominae in their natural ecotopes has great significance in the epidemiology of Chagas disease. Gathering live insects and the establishment of insectaries allows countless studies.
Therefore, effective methods are needed for capturing wild triatomines, especially intrusive species such as Rhodnius prolixus.

Objective: To compare four methods of capturing triatomines in palms to measure their effectiveness.

Materials and methods: Our study was conducted in Maní, department of Casanare, Colombia, with a predominance of A. butyracea. We compared four methodologies in 67 palms: live-bait traps, direct search in the palms, felling and dissection.

Results: The methods were effective to collect juveniles and adults. Felling and manual search showed the highest infestation rates (100% and 83.33%). Higher indexes of overcrowding (4.93), density (3.76),
abundance range (1-13) and adult/nymph index (0.22) were obtained with the Angulo trap. Felling and dissection was the method which significantly collected a greater number of triatomines compared with
the other methods (p <0.002); it was followed by the Angulo trap. We did not find any differences in the collection of the nymphal stages among the evaluated methods (p> 0.05).

Conclusions: Even though felling was the best method for collecting the highest number of triatomines, live-bait with adhesives or shelters to trap insects were a good alternative to collect the insects in palms. Among them, the Angulo trap showed better results and it prevents the risk of exposure of the researcher and the intervention of natural ecotopes.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7705/biomedica.v33i4.835