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. 2020 Apr 3:53:e20190503.
doi: 10.1590/0037-8682-0503-2019. eCollection 2020.

Differentiation of Rhodnius neglectus and Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) by multiple parameters

Rossana Falcone  1 , Aline Rimoldi Ribeiro  2 , Jader de Oliveira  1 , Vagner José Mendonça  3 , Márcia Graminha  4 , João Aristeu da Rosa  1
Affiliations

Differentiation of Rhodnius neglectus and Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) by multiple parameters

Rossana Falcone et al. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. .

Abstract

Introduction: The genus Rhodnius in the subfamily Triatominae comprises 20 species, which can transmit Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli. Due to the development of molecular techniques, Triatominae species can now be characterized by mitochondrial and nuclear markers, making it possible to verify and/or correct the existing data on these species. The results achieved in this study provide a more detailed and accurate differentiation of the Rhodnius species, helping the establishment of a more appropriate classification.

Methods: Data collection was performed by DNA analysis, morphological and morphometric studies to distinguish four populations of R. neglectus and four of R. prolixus. Phylogenetic data were compared to morphological and morphometric data.

Results: The analysis of Cytb fragments suggests that the four colonies designated to Rhodnius neglectus as well as those of R. prolixus were correctly identified.

Conclusions: The morphological characters observed in the specimens of the colonies originally identified as R. prolixus and R. neglectus, such as the presence or absence of collar in the eggs, the patterns of the median process of the pygophore, and anterolateral angle, are consistent with the species. Geometric morphometrics also show an intraspecific variability in R. prolixus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1:
FIGURE 1:. Rhodnius neglectus head showing the eight landmarks selected for geometric morphometrics. Points 1, 2, 5 and 6 are Type I (tissue juxtaposition) and points 3, 4, 7 and 8 are Type II (maximum curvature).
FIGURE 2:
FIGURE 2:. Phylogenetic dendrogram from colonies of R. neglectus and R. prolixus for gene fragment Cytb based on Neighbor-joining analysis. Sequences related to CTAs studied with addition of sequences available at GenBank.
FIGURE 3:
FIGURE 3:. Anterolateral angles of R. neglectus: 1A-CTA 61, 1B-CTA 62, 1C-CTA 65 and 1D-CTA 229. R. prolixus: 1E-CTA 73, 1F-CTA 74, 1G-CTA 78 and 1H-CTA 81. Eggs of R. neglectus from colonies 2A-CTA 61, 2B-CTA 62, 2C-CTA 65 and 2D-CTA 229; eggs of R. prolixus from colonies 2E-CTA 73, 2F-CTA 74, 2G-CTA 78 and 2H-CTA 81 (col. = collar). Median process of the pygophore in R. neglectus: 3A-CTA 61, 3B-CTA 62, 3C-CTA 65, 3D-CTA 229 and R. prolixus: 3E-CTA 73, 3F-CTA 74, 3G-CTA 78 and 3H-CTA 81.
FIGURE 4:
FIGURE 4:. Factorial map of discriminant analysis of the head of four colonies of R. neglectus and four of R. prolixus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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