Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32014037›Full record

ArticleParasites & vectors2020

Characterization of melanic and non-melanic forms in domestic and peridomestic populations of Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae).

Julieta Nattero, Ana Laura Carbajal de la Fuente, Romina Valeria Piccinali, Miriam Cardozo, Claudia Susana Rodríguez, Liliana Beatriz Crocco

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Parasites & vectors, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. The Body of Chagas Disease Vectors.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Chromatic and Morphological Differentiation ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Julieta NatteroDepartamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución/Laboratorio de Eco-Epidemiología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. julietanattero@ege.fcen.uba.ar.
Ana Laura Carbajal de la FuenteDepartamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución/Laboratorio de Eco-Epidemiología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Romina Valeria PiccinaliDepartamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución/Laboratorio de Eco-Epidemiología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Miriam CardozoCátedra de Introducción a la Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (IIBYT-CONICET), Avda. Vélez Sarsfield 299, piso 5, X5000JJC, Córdoba, Argentina.
Claudia Susana RodríguezCátedra de Introducción a la Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (IIBYT-CONICET), Avda. Vélez Sarsfield 299, piso 5, X5000JJC, Córdoba, Argentina.
Liliana Beatriz CroccoCátedra de Introducción a la Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (IIBYT-CONICET), Avda. Vélez Sarsfield 299, piso 5, X5000JJC, Córdoba, Argentina.
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas · ARUniversidad Nacional de Córdoba · ARFundación Ciencias Exactas y Naturales · AR

Funding

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas 11220110101102Secretaria de Ciencia y Tecnología - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba 05/I554
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMelanic (dark) morphs have been barely reported in peridomestic and sylvatic conditions for Triatoma infestans, the most important vector of Chagas disease in the Southern Cone of South America. Adults with dark and small yellow markings on the connexivum were collected after manual searches conducted by technical personnel in 62 domiciliary units in Cruz del Eje, Córdoba Province, Argentina. The last community-wide insecticide spraying campaign before the study had been conducted three years earlier. We investigated if there was a measurable color morph variation (melanic and non-melanic) in wings and connexivum; we determined infestation, distribution of melanic and non-melanic forms, and correspondence of colorimetric variation with variations in morphology (wing size and shape and body length), development (wing fluctuating asymmetry), physiology (nutritional status) or behaviour (flight initiation).

resultsForty-nine females, 54 males and 217 nymphs were collected in 24 domiciliary units. House infestation and colonization were 53% and 47%, respectively. Most of the T. infestans individuals (83.2%) were collected in chicken coops; intradomicile infestation was recorded in only one case. The chromatic cluster analysis showed two well-defined groups: melanic and non-melanic. The melanic group included 17 (35%) females and 25 (46%) males. Peridomestic infestation was lower for melanic than for non-melanic adults. Melanic morphs were collected in houses from several localities. Sexual dimorphisms were confirmed by morphometric measurements. Body length was large in melanic adults (P < 0.01 only for males). Differences between groups were significant for wing size and shape, but not for weight or weight/body length ratio. Melanic females and males showed significantly higher fluctuating asymmetry (FA) indices than their non-melanic counterparts.

conclusionsThis is the second report of melanic forms of T. infestans in domestic and peridomestic habitats in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina. Although non-melanic adults exhibited a higher infestation rate, melanic adults were widespread in the area and were collected in the infested domicile and in most types of peridomestic annexes. Differences in morphometric variables between groups might be due to different ecological adaptations. The higher FA levels observed in melanic individuals suggest a higher developmental instability and a selective advantage of non-melanic individuals in domestic and peridomestic habitats.

Indexed as

AnimalsChagas DiseaseColorEcosystemHumansInsect VectorsMelaninsSelection, GeneticTriatomaMelaninsColorimetric analysisDevelopmental instabilityFlight initiationMelanic/non-melanicMorphological differencesSelective advantageTriatoma infestans

Identifiers

PMID32014037
PMCPMC6998255
OpenAlexW3012311560

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.