Cavernicola pilosa Barber , 1937 ( Hemiptera : Reduviidae : Triatominae ) : First report in the state of Maranhão , Brazil

Cavernicola pilosa Barber, 1937 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) is reported for the first time in Maranhão State, Northeastern Brazil. 1 Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório de Diptera, and Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Saúde. Av. Brasil 4365. CEP 21040-360. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. 2 Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório Nacional e Internacional de Referência em Taxonomia de Triatomíneos. Av. Brasil 4365. CEP 21040-360. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. 3 Caixa Postal 1206. CEP 84145-000. Carambeí, PR, Brazil. * Corresponding Author. E-mail: helciogil@uol.com.br; helciogil@ioc.fiocruz.br Hélcio R. Gil-Santana 1*, Cleber Galvão 2, Carlos G. C. Mielke 3 Cavernicola pilosa Barber, 1937 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae): First report in the state of Maranhão, Brazil DOI: 10.15560/10.4.944 Since the discovery of Chagas (1909), blood-sucking insects of the subfamily Triatominae have been recognized as real or potential vectors of Chagas disease, caused by infection by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas, 1909) (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979). Among the five tribes included in Triatominae, Cavernicolini, has only one genus, Cavernicola Barber, 1937, which at the present time includes two species: C. lenti Barrett & Arias, 1985 and C. pilosa Barber, 1937 (Galvão et al. 2003; Oliveira et al. 2007; Schofield and Galvão 2009). C. pilosa has been found mainly in caves and hollow trees and is associated with bats (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979; Oliveira et al. 2007; 2008). Their close association with bats suggests that they are the only natural food source for C. pilosa (Oliveira et al. 2008). There are reports on the presence of C. pilosa in inhabited or non-inhabited human dwellings (Gomes and Pereira 1977; Silva et al. 1992; Oliveira et al. 2007; 2008). This species has been found to be infected by a species of Trypanosoma Gruby, 1843, which is closely related to T. cruzi (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979; Oliveira et al. 2007; 2008). C. lenti has been observed only in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, whilst C. pilosa has been recorded in Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru and Brazil (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979; Galvão et al. 2003; Bérenger et al. 2009). In Brazil, C. pilosa has been identified in the states of Pará, Tocantins, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, and Paraná (Lent and Jurberg 1969; Silva et al. 1992; Galvão et al. 2003; Oliveira et al. 2007; 2008; Gonçalves et al. 2012). On the other hand, Rebêlo et al. (1998) and Galvão et al. (2003) recorded fifteen and sixteen species of Triatominae in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, respectively, without mentioning any Cavernicola spp. It is noteworthy that although these two studies recorded almost the same species in Maranhão, Triatoma maculata (Erichson, 1848) was mentioned only by Rebêlo et al. (1998), while Rhodnius domesticus Neiva & Pinto, 1923 and Triatoma sordida (Stål, 1859) were recorded only by Galvão et al. (2003), thus making a total of 17 species already recorded in this state (Table 1). The material examined consisted of a male and a female of Cavernicola pilosa (Figures 1 and 2), collected in a 250 W UV-light trap in December 1991 in the municipality of “Feira Nova do Maranhão”, “Retiro”, 07°00′ S, 46° 26′ W, 480 m a.s.l., Maranhão State, C. Mielke leg. The material was deposited in the Entomological Collection of “Museu Nacional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro” (MNRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The specimens were identified following Lent and Jurberg (1969), Lent and Wygodzinsky (1979) and Oliveira et al. (2007), and Figure 1. Cavernicola pilosa, female from “Feira Nova do Maranhão”, state of Maranhão, dorsal view.

Since the discovery of Chagas (1909), blood-sucking insects of the subfamily Triatominae have been recognized as real or potential vectors of Chagas disease, caused by infection by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas, 1909) (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979).
Among the five tribes included in Triatominae, Cavernicolini, has only one genus, Cavernicola Barber, 1937, which at the present time includes two species: C. lenti Barrett & Arias, 1985and C. pilosa Barber, 1937(Galvão et al. 2003;Oliveira et al. 2007;Schofield and Galvão 2009).C. pilosa has been found mainly in caves and hollow trees and is associated with bats (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979;Oliveira et al. 2007;2008).Their close association with bats suggests that they are the only natural food source for C. pilosa (Oliveira et al. 2008).There are reports on the presence of C. pilosa in inhabited or non-inhabited human dwellings (Gomes and Pereira 1977;Silva et al. 1992;Oliveira et al. 2007;2008).This species has been found to be infected by a species of Trypanosoma Gruby, 1843, which is closely related to T. cruzi (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979;Oliveira et al. 2007;2008).C. lenti has been observed only in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, whilst C. pilosa has been recorded in Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru and Brazil (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979;Galvão et al. 2003;Bérenger et al. 2009).
The material examined consisted of a male and a female of Cavernicola pilosa (Figures 1 and 2    were fully in accordance with these previous descriptions. It should be noted that there were variations in two morphological features of C. pilosa: 1 -a certain degree of variation in color, mainly regarding the brighter corium of the hemelytra (Figs.1-2), which may otherwise be completely dark in some specimens (Lent and Jurberg 1969); and 2 -"pale chestnut patches" on the anterior lobe of pronotum (Oliveira et al. 2007), which were conspicuously evident in the female examined (Figure 1), but less so in the male (Figure 2).The area from which the specimens were collected is surrounded by gallery forest, a type of vegetation found in the "Cerrado" (savanna) biome in Brazil.Although C. pilosa has been associated with bats and bat shelters (Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979;Oliveira et al. 2007;2008), it was not possible to correlate the specimens collected with those hosts or niches, since they were simply attracted to a light trap.Because these were occasional findings, only future surveillance of triatomines, including searches in bat shelters, would be likely to produce a better survey of the distribution of C. pilosa in the state of Maranhão.
Nonetheless, from the present study, the first record of C. pilosa in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, is provided here, which now means that a total of 18 species of Triatominae have been recorded in this state (Table 1).
The occurrence of a native triatomine species that sporadically invade human dwellings is a major issue for vector surveillance programs.Knowledge of its geographical distribution is fundamental to the understanding of the epidemiological aspects related to T. cruzi transmission and should be considered as a guide for the Chagas disease control and surveillance activities (Caranha et al. 2011).
. On the other hand, Rebêlo et al. (1998) and Galvão et al. (2003) recorded fifteen and sixteen species of Triatominae in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, respectively, without mentioning any Cavernicola spp.It is noteworthy that although these two studies recorded almost the same species in Maranhão, Triatoma maculata (Erichson, 1848) was mentioned only by Rebêlo et al. (1998), while Rhodnius domesticus Neiva & Pinto, 1923 and Triatoma sordida (Stål, 1859) were recorded only by Galvão et al. (

Table 1 .
Check List of Triatominae species recorded in the state of Maranhão.Previous records follow Rebêlo et al. (1998) and Galvão et al. (2003).