A key for identifying faecal smears to detect domestic infestations of triatomine bugs

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: C.J. Schofield, N.G. Williams, M.L. Kirk, M.T. Garcia Zapata, P.D. Marsden
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 1986
• Subjects: Doença de Chagas; Controle de vetores; Triatomineos; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86821986000100002; https://doaj.org/article/5572fff4cab1420a88e407d2a5b21c29

Early detection of residual populations of domestic triatomine bugs that survive insecticide treatment is a key component of successful evaluation and vigilance for Chagas disease control. We have recently demonstrated that sheets of paper, tacked on to the walls of infested houses, can become streaked with the faeces of triatomine bugs and thus reveal thepresence of an infestation. In thispaper, wepresent a simple key to differentiate the faecal streaks of triatomine bugs from those of other domestic arthropods such as cockroaches, ticks and cimicid bedbugs.