Enduring extreme climate: Effects of severe drought on Triatoma brasiliensis populations in wild and man-made habitats of the Caatinga.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Triatoma brasiliensis, a triatomine-bug vector of Chagas disease, evolved in the semiarid Caatinga, where it occupies rocky outcrops, shrubby cacti, and human dwellings. Dwellings and rocks are considered high-quality microhabitats for this saxicolous species, whereas cacti probably represent secondary, lower-quality microhabitats. This 'microhabitat-quality hierarchy' hypothesis predicts that T. brasiliensis populations occupying dwellings or rocks should endure harsh environmental conditions better than their cactus-living relatives.

Methods/findings

We tested this prediction by comparing T. brasiliensis infestation (proportion of microhabitats with bugs), density (bugs per microhabitat), and crowding (bugs per infested microhabitat) in dwellings, rocks, and cac

SUBMITTER: Ribeiro AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6805010 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature