(Diptera: Nematocera) of the piedmont of the Yungas forests of ...
Biogeography and evolution of Amazonian triatomines ...the northern-central Andes (including the...
Transcript of Biogeography and evolution of Amazonian triatomines ...the northern-central Andes (including the...
57Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 102(Suppl. I): 57-69, 2007
Biogeography and evolution of Amazonian triatomines(Heteroptera: Reduviidae): implications for Chagas disease
surveillance in humid forest ecoregions
Fernando Abad-Franch/*/+, Fernando A Monteiro**
Instituto Leônidas & Maria Deane-Fiocruz Amazônia, Rua Teresina 476, 69057-070 Manaus, AM, Brasil *PMBU-ITD, LondonSchool of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK **Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
An ecological-evolutionary classification of Amazonian triatomines is proposed based on a revision oftheir main contemporary biogeographical patterns. Truly Amazonian triatomines include the Rhodniini, theCavernicolini, and perhaps Eratyrus and some Bolboderini. The tribe Rhodniini comprises two major lineages(pictipes and robustus). The former gave rise to trans-Andean (pallescens) and Amazonian (pictipes) speciesgroups, while the latter diversified within Amazonia (robustus group) and radiated to neighbouring ecoregions(Orinoco, Cerrado-Caatinga-Chaco, and Atlantic Forest). Three widely distributed Panstrongylus species prob-ably occupied Amazonia secondarily, while a few Triatoma species include Amazonian populations that occuronly in the fringes of the region. T. maculata probably represents a vicariant subset isolated from its parentallineage in the Caatinga-Cerrado system when moist forests closed a dry trans-Amazonian corridor. Thesediverse Amazonian triatomines display different degrees of synanthropism, defining a behavioural gradientfrom household invasion by adult triatomines to the stable colonisation of artificial structures. Anthropogenicecological disturbance (driven by deforestation) is probably crucial in the onset of the process, but the fact thatonly a small fraction of species effectively colonises artificial environments suggests a role for evolution at theend of the gradient. Domestic infestation foci are restricted to drier subregions within Amazonia; thus, popula-tions adapted to extremely humid rainforest microclimates may have limited chances of successfully colonisingthe slightly drier artificial microenvironments. These observations suggest several research avenues, from the use ofclimate data to map risk areas to the assessment of the synanthropic potential of individual vector species.
Key words: Triatominae - ecology - evolution - biogeography - Chagas disease - Amazonia
Financial support: the UNDP-World Bank-WHO TDR SpecialProgramme, Fiocruz, CNPq, Fapeam, the ECLAT Network. Thispaper is contribution no. 4 of the Research Programme on Infec-tious Disease Ecology in the Amazon (RP-IDEA) of the InstitutoLeônidas & Maria Deane.+Corresponding author: [email protected] 4 July 2007Accepted 3 September 2007
AMAZONIA
The Amazon is the largest subregion within the Neo-tropical biogeographical region. It encompasses 13 bio-geographical provinces and over 40 ecoregions (cf.Olson et al. 2001, WWF 2001, Morrone 2006) (TablesI-III, Fig. 1). The greater Amazon biome (~ 6.5 millionkm2) is comprised of many diverse biotic communities.The Amazon River fluvial network, with over 10 thou-sand tributaries, irrigates > 5 million km2 of tropicalforests (moist and dry, terra firme and seasonallyflooded, lowland and montane) and the open formations,Campinas, Campinaranas, and anthropic landscapes thatconstitute the ecological mosaic of Amazonia. Consideredas a whole, the Amazon is the most biologically diversebiome on Earth – as measured by the absolute number ofspecies recorded in each region (Mittermeier et al. 2003).
From a wider (biogeographical, ecological, and evo-lutionary) perspective, the Amazon complex may be con-sidered to include certain physically contiguous systemsand ecoregions with which it shares key aspects of itshistorical biogeography. The most important among theseregions are the Orinoco and Tocantins/Araguaia basins,the Guyanan Shield highlands, and the eastern slopes ofthe northern-central Andes (including the Peruvian SelvaAlta, the Yungas, and the inter-Andean valleys drainingtowards the Amazon-Orinoco system). In Brazil, both thedrier ecoregions of the Cerrado and the Caatinga (particu-larly the relatively humid forests along riverbanks and moun-tain ranges) and the moist Atlantic Forests harbour animaland plant communities that reveal their ancient biogeo-graphical-evolutionary relationship with Amazonia.
Many factors and processes have been invoked toexplain the regional patterns of biological diversifica-tion. Whatever the weight of their relative contributions,geological substrate heterogeneity, climatic fluctuationsand habitat fragmentation, hydro- and oro-graphicalvicariant events, dispersal and adaptive radiation, localextinction, genetic drift or coevolution all have prob-ably played a role. It seems safe enough to admit that thehistorical evolution of this huge biogeographical com-plex offered a vast number of ecological-adaptive op-portunities (and constraints) for organic diversificationby natural selection of variants, thus shaping the system-atic relationships among contemporary lineages (cf.Rossetti et al. 2005). It is therefore obvious that a soundunderstanding of the biology of Amazonian organisms
58 Evolution of Amazonian triatomines • F Abad-Franch, FA Monteiro
must take into account not only their systematic struc-turing and current ecological associations, but also thehistorical (evolutionary) aspects of the different lineagesand of the environments where they originated and di-versified.
THE TRIATOMINAE OF AMAZONIA
The true number of Amazonian triatomine speciesremains probably unknown. Records from the Amazon-Orinoco-Tocantins/Araguaia systems, the Guyana Shield,and the eastern Andean foothills include no less than 27recognised species (with a few further taxa probablypresent in some subregions) grouped into nine generaand five tribes: Rhodniini (ten Rhodnius and at least onePsammolestes species), Triatomini (four Triatoma,three Panstrongylus, and two Eratyrus species) Caverni-colini (two Cavernicola species), Alberproseniini (twoAlberprosenia species), and Bolboderini (at least twoBelminus and one Microtriatoma species) (see TablesII, III). It is however very likely that many further taxa
Fig. 1: province biogeography of the Neotropical region and the distribu-tion of Rhodnius spp. Numbers indicate biogeographical provinces (af-ter Morrone 2006) specified in Table I. Green areas correspond to theAmazon province. The red line in Central America suggests the northernlimit of natural (sylvatic) R. pallescens populations. The red line acrossprovince number 13 suggests the southern limit of Amazonian Rhodniuspopulations. Grey areas in Mesoamerica indicate the distribution of in-troduced R. prolixus populations (* = Chiapas province). The orangearea corresponds to the Paraná Forest province, where R. domesticuslikely occurs.
occur in the Amazon that have not yet been formally de-scribed. Lineages composed of small, dull-coloured,canopy-living organisms (like those within the last threetribes we have just mentioned) are the most obvious can-didates to encompass undescribed species. Other likelycandidates are those ‘species’ considered to be eitherbiologically very variable and/or extensively distributed,which might conceal species complexes. The recent find-ing of moderately divergent mitochondrial haplotypesin phenotypically indistinguishable populations of thewidespread R. robustus (Monteiro et al. 2003) indicatesthat the biological diversity of well-known triatominetaxa is also higher than previously thought. The growinguse of DNA barcoding techniques in arthropod taxonomyis revealing how underestimated is species richness inbiodiversity inventories based on classical phenotypicapproaches (see for instance Miller 2007).
Even a superficial biogeographical appraisal suggeststhat the many triatomine species reported to occur inAmazonia fall into distinct categories. Some must beconsidered as truly Amazonian, while others evolved else-where and occupied the region secondarily. Among theformer, some radiated to neighbouring ecoregions anddiversified (speciating in some cases), while others re-mained endemic to their areas of origin. Among the lat-ter, some are populations of widely distributed species,others are found in the ecotones along the fringes of theregion, and a few represent isolated populations derivedfrom currently allopatric stem lineages.
In an attempt to put forward a coherent account ofthe systematic, ecological, and behavioural diversity ofAmazonian triatomines, we underscore in this paper theimportance of adopting a biogeographical and evolution-ary stance – which might be broadly interpreted asphylogeographical. Following this rationale, we presentan approximation to the historical biogeography and evo-lution of the main triatomine lineages known to occur inthe greater Amazon, classifying them accordingly, anddiscuss how this view may foster a biologically soundunderstanding of synanthropic behavioural trendsamong these vectors.
A PHYLOGEOGRAPHICAL CLASSIFICATION OFAMAZONIAN TRIATOMINES
The draft classification we propose here is based onan approximation to the evolutionary origins and diver-sification patterns of the Amazonian lineages within theRhodniini, Panstrongylus and Triatoma, but we will alsoconsider other groups. The judgments underlying ourproposal are biogeographical, ecological, and evolution-ary; we made an effort to avoid excess speculation bytrying to focus on taxon groups that can be safely con-sidered to be monophyletic, even if they are not recog-nised as formal systematic units in some cases.
Truly Amazonian Triatominae - This group includesall the lineages whose centre of origin, diversification,and dispersal (giving rise to currently sympatric,parapatric or allopatric derived taxa) was probably thecore region of moist tropical forests corresponding tocontemporary Amazonia.
59Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 102(Suppl. I), 2007
The paradigmatic example of this group is the tribeRhodniini, an assemblage of arboricolous triatomines(most of them associated with palm trees) grouped intotwo genera – Psammolestes and Rhodnius (Lent &Wygodzinsky 1979, Galvão et al. 2003). While the phy-logenetic relationships of many triatomine tribes andgenera remain problematic, the Rhodniini are consid-
TABLE I
Biogeography of the Neotropical region and the distribution of Rhodnius spp.
Region Subregion Dominion Province Numbera
Neotropical Caribbean Mesoamerican Mexican Pacific CoastMexican GulfChiapasEastern Central America 15Western Panamanian Isthmus 16
Antillean Yucatán PeninsulaBahamaCubaCayman IslandsJamaicaHispaniolaPuerto RicoLesser Antilles
Northwestern South American Chocó 17Maracaibo 18Magdalena 19Trinidad and TobagoVenezuelan Coastc 20Venezuelan Llanosc 21CaucaGalápagos IslandsWestern Ecuador 22Arid Ecuador 23Tumbes-Piura 24
Amazonian Guyana 1Humid Guyana 2Napo 3Imeri 4Roraima 5Amapá 6Várzea 7Ucayali 8Madeira 9Tapajós-Xingu 10Pará 11Yungas 12Pantanal 13
Chacoan Cerradoc 25Caatingac 26Chacoc
Pampa
Paraná Brazilian Atlantic Forest 27Paraná Forestb 28Araucaria Forest
Grey cells correspond to provinces with records of naturally occurring Rhodnius species and populations; a: numbers as in Fig. 1;b: likely occurrence of natural Rhodnius populations; c: recorded occurrence of Psammolestes spp.
ered monophyletic beyond controversy (Hypša et al.2002, De Paula et al. 2005). The two genera within thetribe are however paraphyletic, with Psammolestes spe-cies sharing a common ancestor with R. robustus and itsclosest relatives (Monteiro et al. 2000, 2002).
The 19 species within the tribe Rhodniini have beenclassified into two main groups (Schofield & Dujardin
60 Evolution of Amazonian triatomines • F Abad-Franch, FA Monteiro
TABLE II
Biogeography of the triatomines from the greater Orinoco (Northwestern South American biogeographical dominion)
Biogeographic provincea Hydrographic basin(s) Ecoregionb Species of Triatominae
Maracaibo Lake Maracaibo Maracaibo dry forests Rhodnius prolixus, R. robustus (I), R. pictipes,R. neivai, Triatoma dimidiata?, T. maculata,T. nigromaculata, Panstrongylus geniculatus,P. rufotuberculatus, Eratyrus mucronatus,E. cuspidatus, Alberprosenia goyovargasi
Catatumbo moist R. prolixus, R. robustus (I)?, R. pictipes,forests T. dimidiata?, T. maculata?, P. geniculatus,
P. rufotuberculatus, E. mucronatus, E. cuspidatus,Cavernicola pilosa?
Guajira/Barranquilla R. prolixus, R. neivai, T. dimidiata?,xeric scrub T.a maculata, P. geniculatus, P. rufotuberculatus?,
E. mucronatus?, E. cuspidatus?
Paraguana xeric scrub R. prolixus, R. robustus (I)?, R. pictipes?, R. neivai,Psammolestes arthuri, T. dimidiata, T.a maculata,T. nigromaculata, P. geniculatus, P rufotubercula-tus, E mucronatus?, E cuspidatus
Orinoco/Magdalena Cordillera Oriental R. prolixus, R. robustus (I), R. pictipes, R. dalessandroi?,(Northern Colombia) montane forests T. dimidiata (Colombia), T. maculata?, P. geniculatus,
P. rufotuberculatus?, E. mucronatus, E. cuspidatus,C. pilosa, Belminus rugulosus?
Venezuelan Venezuelan coastal La Costa xeric R. prolixus, R. robustus (I)?, R. pictipes?, P. arthuri,Coast basins shrublands T. dimidiata, T. maculata, T. nigromaculata,
P. geniculatus, P.s rufotuberculatus, E. mucronatus,E. cuspidatus, B. pittieri, B. rugulosus
Cordillera La Costa R.s prolixus, R. robustus (I)?, R. pictipes, T. dimidia-montane forests ta?, T. maculata?, P. geniculatus, P. rufotuberculatus?,
E. mucronatus?, Microtriatoma trinidadensis,B. pittieri?, B. rugulosus?
Lara/Falcón dry forests R. prolixus, R. robustus (I), R. neivai, T. dimidata?, T.maculata, T. nigromaculata?, P. geniculatus, P.rufotuberculatus, E. mucronatus, E.cuspidatus
Trinidad basins Trinidad and Tobago E. mucronatus, M. trinidadensismoist forests
Paraguana xeric scrub R. prolixus, R. robustus (I)?, R. pictipes?, R. neivai,P. arthuri, T. dimidiata, T. maculata, T. nigromaculata,P. geniculatus, P.s rufotuberculatus, E. mucronatus?,E. cuspidatus
Araya and Paria R. prolixus, R. robustus (I)?, T. dimidiata?,xeric scrub T. maculata?, P. geniculatus?, P. rufotuberculatus?,
E. mucronatus?, E. cuspidatus?
Venezuelan Llanos Orinoco Llanos R. prolixus, R. robustus (I), R. pictipes,R. dalessandroi, P. arthuri, T. dimidiata, T. maculata,T. nigromaculata, P. geniculatus, P. rufotuberculatus,E. mucronatus, E. cuspidatus, C. pilosa,B. rugulosus?, M. trinidadensis?
Apure/Villavicencio R. prolixus, R. robustus (I), R. pictipes?, P. arthuri, T.dry forests dimidiata, T. maculata, T. nigromaculata,
P. geniculatus, P. lignarius??, P. rufotuberculatus,E. mucronatus, E. cuspidatus, C. pilosa, B. rugulosus?
Orinoco Delta R. prolixus?, R. robustus (I, IV)?, R. pictipes,swamp forests T. dimidiata?, T. maculata?, T. nigromaculata??,
P. geniculatus, P. rufotuberculatus?, P. lignarius?,E. mucronatus?, M. trinidadensis
Orinoco wetlands R. prolixus?, R. robustus (I, IV)?, R. pictipes?,P. geniculatus?, P. lignarius?, P. rufotuberculatus?,E. mucronatus?, M. trinidadensis?
a: after Morrone (2006); b: after WWF (2001); ? indicates the species is probably present in the ecoregion; ?? indicates the species ispossibly present in the ecoregion; roman numerals refer to R. robustus genotypic groups defined after Monteiro et al. (2003); triatominerecords follow Carcavallo et al. (1999) and Galvão et al. (2003).
61Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 102(Suppl. I), 2007
TAB
LE
III
Bio
geog
raph
y of
the
tria
tom
ines
from
the
Am
azon
ian
subr
egio
n
Bio
geog
raph
ic p
rovi
ncea
Hyd
rogr
aphi
c ba
sin(
s)E
core
gion
bSp
ecie
s of
Tri
atom
inae
Nap
oA
maz
onas
Caq
uetá
moi
st fo
rest
sR
hodn
ius
robu
stus
(II
), R
. pi
ctip
es,
R.
bret
hesi
, P
anst
rong
ylus
gen
icul
atus
,P.
s ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us,
P. l
igna
rius
?, E
raty
rus
muc
rona
tus,
Cav
erni
cola
pil
osa,
Mic
rotr
iato
ma
trin
idad
ensi
s
Nap
o m
oist
fore
sts
R. r
obus
tus
(II)
, R. s
p.(r
obus
tus
linea
ge),
R. p
icti
pes,
P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P. l
igna
rius
(an
d li
gnar
ius-
herr
eri
inte
rmed
iate
for
ms)
,E
. m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
Solim
ões/
Japu
rá m
oist
fore
sts
R.
robu
stus
(II
), R
. pi
ctip
es,
R.
bret
hesi
?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us,
P. l
igna
rius
, E
. m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
, B
elm
inus
per
uvia
nus?
Cor
dille
ra O
rien
tal m
onta
neR
. pro
lixu
s, R
. rob
ustu
s (I
, II?
), R
. pic
tipe
s, R
. dal
essa
ndro
i??,
T. d
imid
iata
??,
fore
sts
(sou
ther
n th
ird)
P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, E
. m
ucro
natu
s, E
. cu
spid
atus
, C
. pi
losa
,B
. ru
gulo
sus?
?
Eas
tern
Cor
dille
raR
. rob
ustu
s (I
I), R
hodn
ius
sp.(
robu
stus
line
age)
?, R
. pic
tipe
s, T
. car
rion
i, T.
ven
osa,
Rea
l mon
tane
fore
sts
P. g
enic
ulat
us?,
P.
rufo
tube
rcul
atus
?, P
.lign
ariu
s?,
B.
peru
vian
us?
Am
azon
as/O
rino
coN
egro
/Bra
nco
moi
st fo
rest
sR
. pr
olix
us?,
R.
robu
stus
(I)
, R.
pict
ipes
, R. b
reth
esi,
T. m
acul
ata?
, P.
geni
cula
tus,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us?,
E.m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis
Ori
noco
Apu
re/V
illav
icen
cio
R. p
roli
xus?
, R. r
obus
tus
(I),
R. p
icti
pes?
, Psa
mm
oles
tes
arth
uri,
T. d
imid
iata
?,dr
y fo
rest
s (s
outh
ern
limit)
T. m
acul
ata,
T.
nigr
omac
ulat
a?,
P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. l
igna
rius
??,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
E.
cusp
idat
us,
C.
pilo
sa,
B.
rugu
losu
s??
Imer
iA
maz
onas
Japu
rá/S
olim
ões-
Neg
roR
. rob
ustu
s (I
I, I
V, *
), R
. pi
ctip
es, R
. br
ethe
si, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us,
moi
st fo
rest
sP.
lig
nari
us,
Era
tyru
s m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis
Neg
ro/B
ranc
o m
oist
fore
sts
R.
prol
ixus
?, R
. ro
bust
us (
I), R
. pi
ctip
es, R
. bre
thes
i, T.
mac
ulat
a?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s,P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
?, E
. m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis
Caq
uetá
moi
st fo
rest
sR
. ro
bust
us (
II),
R.
pict
ipes
, R
. br
ethe
si,
P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus,
P.
lign
ariu
s,E
. m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis
Solim
ões/
Japu
rá m
oist
fore
sts
R.
robu
stus
(II
), R
. pi
ctip
es,
R.
bret
hesi
?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us,
P. l
igna
rius
, E
. m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
, B
. pe
ruvi
anus
?
Rio
Neg
ro C
ampi
nara
nas
R.
robu
stus
(I,
II?
), R
.s p
icti
pes,
R.
bret
hesi
, P.
gen
icul
atus
?, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us?,
P. l
igna
rius
?, E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Am
azon
as/O
rino
coG
uyan
an H
ighl
ands
R.
prol
ixus
?, R
. ro
bust
us (
I), R
. pi
ctip
es,
T. m
acul
ata,
T.
nigr
omac
ulat
a?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s,m
oist
fore
sts
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus,
P.
lign
ariu
s, E
. m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
Guy
ana
Am
azon
as/O
rino
coG
uyan
an H
ighl
ands
R.
prol
ixus
?, R
. ro
bust
us (
I), R
. pi
ctip
es,
T. m
acul
ata,
T.
nigr
omac
ulat
a?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s,m
oist
fore
sts
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus,
P.
lign
ariu
s, E
. m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
Ori
noco
Lla
nos
R.
prol
ixus
, R
. ro
bust
us (
I), R
. pi
ctip
es,
R.
dale
ssan
droi
, P
sam
mol
este
s ar
thur
i,T.
dim
idia
ta,
T. m
acul
ata,
T.
nigr
omac
ulat
a, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
E.
cusp
idat
us,
C.
pilo
sa,
B.
rugu
losu
s?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Ori
noco
-Coa
stal
Guy
anan
bas
ins
Tepu
isT.
mac
ulat
a??,
P.
geni
cula
tus?
?, E
. m
ucro
natu
s??,
C.
pilo
sa??
Hum
id G
uyan
aG
uyan
an c
oast
al b
asin
sG
uian
an m
oist
fore
sts
R.
prol
ixus
?, R
. ro
bust
us (
IV),
R.
pict
ipes
, R.
amaz
onic
us, R
. pa
raen
sis,
T.
dim
idia
ta?,
T. m
acul
ata,
T.
nigr
omac
ulat
a??,
P.
geni
cula
tus,
P.
rufo
tube
rcul
atus
, P.
lig
nari
us,
�
62 Evolution of Amazonian triatomines • F Abad-Franch, FA Monteiro
Bio
geog
raph
ic p
rovi
ncea
Hyd
rogr
aphi
c ba
sin(
s)E
core
gion
bSp
ecie
s of
Tri
atom
inae
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s
Para
mar
ibo
swam
p fo
rest
sR
. ro
bust
us (
IV)?
, R
. pi
ctip
es?,
R.
amaz
onic
us??
, R
. pa
raen
sis?
?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s?,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us?,
E.
muc
rona
tus?
, C
. pi
losa
?, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
Ori
noco
Ori
noco
Del
ta s
wam
p fo
rest
sR
. pro
lixu
s?, R
. rob
ustu
s (I
V, I
?), R
. pic
tipe
s, T
. dim
idia
ta?,
T. m
acul
ata?
,T.
nig
rom
acul
ata?
?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us?,
P.
lign
ariu
s?,
E.
muc
rona
tus?
,M
. tr
inid
aden
sis
Ror
aim
aA
maz
onas
Uat
umã-
Tro
mbe
tas
R. r
obus
tus
(I, I
V),
R.
pict
ipes
, R.
amaz
onic
us, R
. br
ethe
si??
, R.
para
ensi
s,m
oist
fore
sts
P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus,
P.
lign
ariu
s, E
. m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, C
. le
nti,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Guy
anan
sav
anna
sR
. pr
olix
us??
, R.
robu
stus
(I)
?, R
. pi
ctip
es?,
T.
mac
ulat
a, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s,P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s??,
E.
muc
rona
tus?
, C
. pi
losa
?
Am
apá
Am
azon
asU
atum
ã-T
rom
beta
sR
. rob
ustu
s (I
, IV
), R
. pi
ctip
es, R
. am
azon
icus
, R.
bret
hesi
??, R
. pa
raen
sis,
moi
st fo
rest
sP.
gen
icul
atus
, P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s, P
. li
gnar
ius,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa,
C.
lent
i,M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
Mar
ajó
várz
ea fo
rest
sR
. ro
bust
us (
IV),
R.
pict
ipes
, R
. am
azon
icus
?, R
. pa
raen
sis?
, P.
gen
icul
atus
,P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
, E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?,
Alb
erpr
osen
ia m
alhe
iroi
, B
. la
port
ei
Gur
upa
várz
eaR
. ro
bust
us (
IV)?
, R
. pi
ctip
es?,
R.
amaz
onic
us?,
R.
para
ensi
s?,
P. g
enic
ulat
us?,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us?,
E.m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Guy
anan
sav
anna
sR
. pr
olix
us??
, R
. ro
bust
us (
IV)?
, R
. pi
ctip
es?,
T.
mac
ulat
a??,
P.
geni
cula
tus,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?
Uca
yali
Am
azon
asU
caya
li m
oist
fore
sts
R.
robu
stus
(II
), R
. pi
ctip
es,
P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?,
B.
peru
vian
us?
Iqui
tos
várz
eaR
. ro
bust
us (
II),
R.
pict
ipes
, P.
gen
icul
atus
, P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
?,E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?,
B.p
eruv
ianu
s?
Mad
eira
Am
azon
asM
adei
ra/T
apaj
ós m
oist
fore
sts
R. r
obus
tus
(II,
III
, IV
), R
. pic
tipe
s, R
. sta
li, R
. bre
thes
i?, P
. ter
tius
?, P
. gen
icul
atus
,P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s, P
. li
gnar
ius,
E.m
ucro
natu
s, C
. pi
losa
, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
Puru
s/M
adei
ra m
oist
fore
sts
R. r
obus
tus
(II,
IV
, III
?), R
. pic
tipe
s, R
. sta
li?,
R. b
reth
esi?
, P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Juru
á/Pu
rus
moi
st fo
rest
sR
. ro
bust
us (
II),
R.
pict
ipes
, R
. br
ethe
si??
, P.
gen
icul
atus
, P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s,P.
lig
nari
us,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Puru
s vá
rzea
R.
robu
stus
(II
), R
. pi
ctip
es,
R.
bret
hesi
?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us?,
P. l
igna
rius
?, E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Mon
te A
legr
e vá
rzea
R.
robu
stus
(II
, IV
), R
; pi
ctip
es,
P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us?,
E.
muc
rona
tus?
, C
. pi
losa
?, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
Vár
zea
Am
azon
asPu
rus
várz
eaR
. ro
bust
us (
II),
R.
pict
ipes
, R
. br
ethe
si?,
P.
geni
cula
tus,
P.
rufo
tube
rcul
atus
?,P.
lig
nari
us?,
E.
muc
rona
tus?
, C
. pi
losa
?, M
.trin
idad
ensi
s?
Mon
te A
legr
e vá
rzea
R.
robu
stus
(II
, IV
), R
. pi
ctip
es, R
. am
azon
icus
?, R
. pa
raen
sis?
, P.
gen
icul
atus
,P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
?, E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Iqui
tos
várz
eaR
. ro
bust
us (
II),
R.
pict
ipes
, P.
gen
icul
atus
, P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
?,�
63Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 102(Suppl. I), 2007
Bio
geog
raph
ic p
rovi
ncea
Hyd
rogr
aphi
c ba
sin(
s)E
core
gion
bSp
ecie
s of
Tri
atom
inae
E.
muc
rona
tus?
, C
. pi
losa
?, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
, B
. pe
ruvi
anus
?
Tapa
jós-
Xin
guA
maz
onas
Tapa
jós/
Xin
gu m
oist
fore
sts
R. r
obus
tus
(III
), R
. pic
tipe
s, R
. bre
thes
i, P.
ter
tius
?, P
. gen
icul
atus
,P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
, E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Xin
gu/T
ocan
tins-
Ara
guai
aR
. ro
bust
us (
III)
, R
. pi
ctip
es,
R.
bret
hesi
?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us,
moi
st fo
rest
sP.
lig
nari
us,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s, A
lber
pros
enia
mal
heir
oi?,
B.
lapo
rtei
?
Gur
upa
várz
eaR
. ro
bust
us (
IV)?
, R
. pi
ctip
es?,
R.
amaz
onic
us?,
R.
para
ensi
s?,
P. g
enic
ulat
us?,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us?,
E.
muc
rona
tus?
, C
. pi
losa
?, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
Mat
o G
ross
o tr
opic
alR
. rob
ustu
s (I
II, I
I?),
R.
pict
ipes
?, R
. ne
glec
tus?
, P.s
ter
tius
, P.
geni
cula
tus?
,dr
y fo
rest
sP.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
?, C
.a p
ilos
a, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis
Par
áTo
cant
ins-
Ara
guai
a/To
cant
ins-
Ara
guai
a/M
aran
hão
R. r
obus
tus
(III
, IV
), R
. pic
tipe
s, R
. mil
esi,
R. n
egle
ctus
, R. p
arae
nsis
, P. t
erti
us?,
coas
tal b
asin
sm
oist
fore
sts
P.
geni
cula
tus,
P.
rufo
tube
rcul
atus
?, P
. li
gnar
ius,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa?,
A. m
alhe
iroi
?, B
. lap
orte
i?
Pind
aré-
Parn
aíba
Mar
anhã
o B
abaç
u fo
rest
sR
. rob
ustu
s (I
V),
R.
pict
ipes
, R.
mil
esi?
, R.
negl
ectu
s, R
. na
sutu
s, P
. gen
icul
atus
,P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
, E
.muc
rona
tus?
?, C
. pi
losa
?
Mar
anhã
o co
asta
l bas
ins
Nor
thea
ster
n re
stin
gas
No
data
Yun
gas
Am
azon
asPe
ruvi
an Y
unga
sR
. rob
ustu
s (I
I), R
. pic
tipe
s, R
. ecu
ador
iens
is??
(pr
imar
ily
tran
s-A
ndea
n), T
. car
rion
i,P.
gen
icul
atus
, P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus,
P. l
igna
rius
her
reri
, P. c
hina
i??
(pri
mar
ily
tran
s-A
ndea
n),
E.
muc
rona
tus?
, E
. cu
spid
atus
?, C
. pi
losa
?, B
. pe
ruvi
anus
Bol
ivia
n Y
unga
sR
. ro
bust
us (
II),
R.
stal
i, P.
gen
icul
atus
, P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
?,E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s
And
ean
Yun
gas
P. c
oreo
des,
P.
geni
cula
tus,
P.
rufo
tube
rcul
atus
?
Am
azon
as-M
arañ
ónM
arañ
ón d
ry fo
rest
sR
. rob
ustu
s (I
I)?,
R. e
cuad
orie
nsis
(pr
imar
ily t
rans
-And
ean)
, T. c
arri
oni,
P. g
enic
ulat
us?,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus,
P. l
igna
rius
her
reri
, P. c
hina
i (pr
imar
ily tr
ans-
And
ean)
,E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
E.
cusp
idat
us??
, B
. pe
ruvi
anus
Pant
anal
Am
azon
asM
adei
ra/T
apaj
ós m
oist
fore
sts
R. r
obus
tus
(II,
III
, IV
), R
. pic
tipe
s, R
. sta
li, R
. bre
thes
i?, P
. ter
tius
?, P
. gen
icul
atus
,P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s, P
. li
gnar
ius,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Puru
s/M
adei
ra m
oist
fore
sts
R. r
obus
tus
(II,
IV
, III
?), R
. pic
tipe
s, R
. sta
li?,
R. b
reth
esi?
, P. g
enic
ulat
us,
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Sout
hwes
tern
Am
azon
ian
R. r
obus
tus
(II)
, R
. pi
ctip
es, R
. st
ali,
P. c
oreo
des?
, P.
geni
cula
tus,
moi
st fo
rest
sP.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s, P
. li
gnar
ius,
E.
muc
rona
tus,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?,
B.
peru
vian
us?
Mon
te A
legr
e vá
rzea
R.
robu
stus
(II
), R
. pi
ctip
es,
R.
stal
i??,
P.
geni
cula
tus,
P.
rufo
tube
rcul
atus
?,P.
lig
nari
us?,
E.
muc
rona
tus?
, C
. pi
losa
?, M
. tr
inid
aden
sis?
, B
. pe
ruvi
anus
??
Iqui
tos
várz
eaR
. ro
bust
us (
II),
R.
pict
ipes
, P.
gen
icul
atus
, P.
ruf
otub
ercu
latu
s?,
P. l
igna
rius
?,E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
C.
pilo
sa?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?,
B.
peru
vian
us?
Mat
o G
ross
o tr
opic
alR
.s r
obus
tus
(III
, II?
), R
. pi
ctip
es?,
R.
negl
ectu
s?, P
. te
rtiu
s, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s?,
dry
fore
sts
P. r
ufot
uber
cula
tus?
, P.
lig
nari
us?,
C.
pilo
sa,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s
Ben
i sav
anna
sR
. ro
bust
us (
II)?
, R.
pict
ipes
?, R
. st
ali,
P. t
erti
us?,
P.
geni
cula
tus,
P.
rufo
tube
rcul
atus
,E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?�
64 Evolution of Amazonian triatomines • F Abad-Franch, FA Monteiro
1999). The ‘pictipes group’ includes species from boththe eastern (pictipes, stali, brethesi, paraensis, andamazonicus) and western (pallescens, colombiensis, andecuadoriensis) sides of the Andes. The members of the‘robustus group’ (robustus, prolixus , nasutus,neglectus, milesi, dalessandroi, domesticus, and thePsammolestes) are all cis-Andean [only R. neivai, en-demic to the dry forests of the eastern Maracaibo bio-geographical province, includes geographically re-stricted trans-Andean populations]. However, the verypresence of two biogeographically well-defined groupsof species (cis- and trans-Andean) has also been inter-preted as signalling a basal evolutionary split within thetribe. Mitochondrial rDNA sequence analyses failed toprovide convincing evidence to uphold any of these twocompeting hypotheses (Hypša et al. 2001, De Paula etal. 2007), but mt cytochrome b gene (cytb) genealogiestend to support the existence of two major, monophyl-etic groups: the ‘pictipes’ and the ‘robustus’ lineages(Abad-Franch & Monteiro 2005 and unpublished data).
Several lines of evidence suggest a palaeo-Amazo-nian origin of the Rhodniini. First, only three of theknown extant species are entirely trans-Andean (seeabove). Eleven of the 16 cis-Andean species have beenrecorded in the greater Amazon (including the Orinocoand Tocantins/Araguaia systems); the best studied amongthese (particularly R. robustus) are genetically very di-verse entities probably encompassing several, recentlydiversified cryptic taxa (Monteiro et al. 2003). Thesedata suggest that the core biogeographical region of thetribe would correspond to contemporary Amazonia. Theclose ecological association between most Rhodniusspecies and palm trees may reflect a long (perhaps up to> 90 million years) process of parallel evolution of bothlineages (Gaunt & Miles 2002). Palm trees first evolvedin moist tropical forests of the Gondwana floral prov-ince during the warm late Cretaceous, and occupied drierlife zones secondarily (cf. Cox & Moore 2000). Assum-ing that the Rhodniini followed their palm ecotopesalong this evolutionary pathway, it may be concluded thatthey also appeared for the first time in humid tropicalforests. The exclusively Neotropical range of extant lin-eages suggests that they probably evolved in the moistEquatorial forests of western Gondwana. The averagecytb sequence divergences between the more widely dis-tributed representatives of the tribe (R. pictipes and R.robustus) exceeds 20% (FA-F & FAM, unpublished data),suggesting that their most recent common ancestor livedin the Miocene [10-12 million years ago (Mya); assum-ing a rate of 2.3% pairwise sequence divergence permillion years (Brower 1994)], when flooded moist for-ests (similar to contemporary várzea) prevailed in theAmazon (cf. Hoorn 1994).
The diversification of these palaeo-Amazonian an-cestors followed diverse patterns. Mt cytb sequence datasuggest that R. pictipes and R. pallescens-colombiensisshare a common ancestor that lived in the late Miocene(~ 6 Mya), just before the Andes increased their maxi-mum altitude to over 4000m (Cox & Moore 2000, Abad-Franch et al. 2003). The time since divergence of R.ecuadoriensis from its Colombian relatives (R. pal-B
ioge
ogra
phic
pro
vinc
eaH
ydro
grap
hic
basi
n(s)
Eco
regi
onb
Spec
ies
of T
riat
omin
ae
Am
azon
as/P
aran
áC
hiqu
itani
a dr
y fo
rest
sR
. ro
bust
us (
II?)
, R
. st
ali,
P. c
oreo
des,
P.
geni
cula
tus,
P.
rufo
tube
rcul
atus
,E
. m
ucro
natu
s?,
M.
trin
idad
ensi
s?
Para
ná/A
maz
onas
Pant
anal
R.
robu
stus
(II
?), R
. st
ali,
P. t
erti
us?,
P.
core
odes
?, P
. ge
nicu
latu
s, P
. ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us?,
E.
muc
rona
tus
Para
ná/A
maz
onas
/C
erra
doR
. rob
ustu
s (I
I, I
II?)
?, R
. sta
li?,
R. n
egle
ctus
, P. t
erti
us, P
. cor
eode
s, P
. gen
icul
atus
,A
ragu
aia-
Toca
ntin
sP.
s ru
fotu
berc
ulat
us?
a: a
fter
Mor
rone
(200
6); b
: aft
er W
WF
(200
1); ?
indi
cate
s th
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65Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 102(Suppl. I), 2007
lescens and R. colombiensis) (~ 5 Mya) roughly coin-cides with the uplift of the Andes in the Pliocene. A plau-sible explanation to the current distribution of the mem-bers of the Pacific Rhodnius lineage would thereforecombine the effects of adaptive radiation and vicariance.An ancestral population perhaps reached the western sideof the (then low) Andes range during the late Mioceneby migrating from the eastern Orinoco plains; subse-quently, the rise of the Andes during the Pliocene splitthat population into two main clades: the northern (nowColombian) cluster, comprising the ancestral forms ofR. pallescens and R. colombiensis, and an isolated pocketin the south, which adapted to new ecotopes and eventuallygave rise to R. ecuadoriensis (Abad-Franch et al. 2003).
The bulk of the diversification of the AmazonianRhodnius lineages (the cis-Andean group derived fromthe ‘pictipes lineage’ and all the known representativesof the ‘robustus lineage’) probably took place in syn-chrony with the orographic-hydrographic changes and theclimatic fluctuations (with profound local and regionalecological impact) that took place in the late Plioceneand the Pleistocene (cf. Rossetti et al. 2005). Duringinterglacial periods for instance, moist forests expandedbeyond their current limits, allowing for the colonisationof new regions by representatives of the tribe. Some ofthem dispersed towards presently arid or semi-aridecoregions, particularly the Colombian-VenezuelanLlanos to the north and the Brazilian Cerrado and Caatingato the south. In some cases, these ancestral dispersingpopulations established ecological associations with dryforest palm species (Copernicia tectorum-R. prolixus,C. prunifera-R. nasutus, Acrocomia spp.-R. neglectus),while in others they reached new territories followingMauritia flexuosa gallery forests or adapting to pro-tected microenvironments (Psammolestes-bird nests).The genetic consequences of Amazonian moist forestfragmentation during the Pleistocene can be traced inthe relationships between R. robustus mt cytbhaplotypes, with at least four moderately distinct vari-ants (~ 2.3-4% sequence divergence) occurring acrossthe greater Amazon (Monteiro et al. 2003, Abad-Franch& Monteiro 2005; see Fig. 2). The phylogeographic hy-pothesis proposed by Monteiro et al. (2003) to explainthe diversification of these Amazonian R. robustus cladeswould receive further support if R. pictipes populations(with similar overall geographic distribution) were shownto present comparable patterns of genetic structuring.The question has not been thoroughly examined so far.
R. domesticus is probably the living representativeof an ancient coastal lineage that remained isolated fromits Amazon ancestors when the humid forest corridorslinking Amazonia with the Brazilian Atlantic Forest dis-appeared. A similar process of early isolation might havegiven rise to R. neivai in the northern xeric forests andshrublands of the Maracaibo biogeographical province.
The apparent ecological specialisation of someRhodnius and Psammolestes species may have alsoplayed a role in the diversification of the tribe. Thus, R.brethesi seems to be tightly associated with Leopoldiniapiassaba palms, and it has been suggested that the dis-tribution of R. stali closely matches that of Attalea
phalerata palms in the southwestern fringe of the Ama-zon biome (Matías et al. 2003). R. paraensis is thoughtto be associated with an arboreal rodent of the genusChrysurus, and a similar process of host specialisation,in this case involving birds (mainly Furnariidae), mayhave resulted in the diversification of the Psammolestesfrom an ancestral form belonging to the ‘robustus lineage’.
Some less well-studied triatomine taxa also appearto have evolved in the Amazon moist forests. These in-clude the Cavernicolini, the genus Eratyrus, Microtri-atoma trinidadensis, and perhaps the Belminus-Parabelminus lineage. The phylogenetic affinities andevolutionary origins of these groups have not been thor-oughly investigated; our statements about them, basedon ecological-biogeographic information, are thereforeonly tentative. The two known Cavernicola species livein close association with cave- and hollow tree-dwell-ing bat colonies (Barrett 1991). C. pilosa is a widelydistributed species; while records exist from severalextra-Amazonian ecoregions, the core of its distribu-tion lies apparently within Amazonia. C. lenti has onlybeen reported to occur in a geographically restricted areawithin the Uatumã-Trombetas moist forests of the Bra-zilian Amazon. These data suggest an Amazonian originof the tribe, followed by passive, host-mediated spread
Fig. 2: approximate province biogeography of Rhodnius robustus geno-types [defined after Monteiro et al. (2003) and Pavan & Monteiro (2007)].A red dot in the central Amazon indicates the collection site of the new R.robustus genotype (a member of the R. robustus I - R. prolixus clade)cited in the text. Biogeographical provinces as in Fig. 1 and Table I.
66 Evolution of Amazonian triatomines • F Abad-Franch, FA Monteiro
of the pilosa lineage. E. mucronatus occurs in hollowtrees throughout the Amazon-Orinoco basins, whereascis-Andean E. cuspidatus populations seem restrictedto Northern Venezuela, also suggesting an Amazoniancommon ancestor of the genus. The biogeographical pat-tern of M. trinidadensis (which occurs in a ring encom-passing the Amazon-Orinoco fringes) could be inter-preted as the result of a centrifugal adaptive radiation ofpopulations of Amazonian origin. A prediction of thishypothesis is that the species should be present in cen-tral Amazonia, but no records existed from the area(Carcavallo et al. 1999, Galvão et al. 2003) until the re-cent collection of a male specimen in the Japurá/Solimões-Negro moist forests (Brazilian central Ama-zon) (FA-F, unpublished). The Belminus-Parabelminuslineage has also several representatives in the Amazonas-Orinoco system, but some species are trans-Andean andsome (the Parabelminus) are endemic to the BrazilianAtlantic Forests; it is therefore difficult to put forward ahypothesis about its origins, and they could well fit alsoin the second subdivision of our classification.
Widely distributed lineages - Several triatominespecies reported from the greater Amazon belong towidely distributed lineages whose centre of origin anddiversification lies outside the region. They probablyoccupied Amazonian ecoregions secondarily; while somewere awarded formal specific status, others are simplyconsidered geographical populations of their parentalspecies. Representatives of this second major class allbelong to the genus Panstrongylus, but the Belminus-Parabelminus lineage could have followed similar evo-lutionary pathways.
Amazonian Panstrongylus populations belong tothree species (P. geniculatus, P. lignarius-herreri, andP. rufotuberculatus) that seem to be related to theMesoamerican Triatomini lineage (Marcilla et al. 2002).The ancestors of this lineage evolved several millionyears before the complete closure of the Panama Isth-mus, ~ 3 Mya (Bargues et al. 2000, Cox & Moore 2000),suggesting a secondary occupation of South America bytheir descendants. P. geniculatus is a widely distributedand phenotypically diverse triatomine species. It survivesin arid life zones by exploiting highly protected, humidunderground microhabitats (particularly armadillo bur-rows). This strategy probably helped it disperse towardsthe Amazon across the dry regions of northern SouthAmerica. Once in the moist Amazon forests, P. geni-culatus colonised less protected environments such ashollow trees, dead logs, palm tree crowns, and, sporadi-cally, peridomestic pigsties. P. lignarius belongs to asmall monophyletic group of arboricolous species thatoccupy moist tropical forests in Central America (P.humeralis) and the Amazon (P. lignarius). A synan-thropic population (P. herreri, recently synonymisedwith lignarius) lives in the dry forests of the Marañónvalley in Northeastern Peru. It probably represents aparapatric derivative of lowland Amazonian populationsknown as P. lignarius. Sporadic records suggest that P.rufotuberculatus is also present throughout the greaterAmazon. Its extensive geographic range, its phylogenetic
affinities with Mesoamerican Triatomini, and its eco-logical plasticity all suggest a secondary spread of thisspecies across Amazonian ecoregions.
Relict species: the strange case of T. maculata - T.maculata is the only representative of the genus Triatomawith abundant native populations within the greater Ama-zon. It is probably also the only representative of thebiogeographically South American Triatoma lineage thatoccurs north of the parallel 10ºS. Its presumed sisterspecies (T. pseudomaculata) and its closest relatives(T. wygodzinskyi and T. arthurneivai) occur in theCaatinga and the Cerrado. The vicariant distribution ofthese species in dry ecoregions north and south of themoist Amazon forests was interpreted as the result ofpassive dispersal of nymphs by migratory birds. Thishypothesis seems to have been refuted by recentallozyme data showing large genetic distances separat-ing T. maculata from T. pseudomaculata (as opposedto the very small differences detected between the lat-ter and T. wygodzinskyi; dos Santos et al. 2007). Theseresults are compatible with a complex phylogeographicscenario in which an ancestral Triatoma population oc-cupied dry corridors linking the arid Brazilian North-east region with the savannahs of the Orinoco system.The ancestors of extant T. maculata populations becameisolated from their southern relatives when the moisttropical forest matrix closed those dry corridors, set-ting out the process of independent evolution we can nowtrace with genetic markers. The diversification of thesouthern lineage is reflected in the several species thathave been formally described, while the northern cladeis still considered monospecific (comprising only T.maculata). A thorough assessment of the genetic and phe-notypic variability within T. maculata may therefore be pre-dicted to reveal much more diversity than would be expectedamong populations of a recently dispersed species. In sum-mary, contemporary T. maculata populations probablyrepresent an old relict from the times when tropical dryforest corridors traversed Amazonia from north to south.
In the fringes of the Amazon - A few populations ofprimarily Andean triatomine species have been recordedin montane foothill forests that belong to the greaterAmazon biome. This is the case of T. carrioni in Ecua-dor (where T. venosa also occurs) and Northern Peru(Abad-Franch et al. 2001, Cuba Cuba et al. 2002). T.nigromaculata also belongs to the carrioni-venosa-dispar lineage, and is therefore probably of Andean ori-gin. Its range includes a large portion of the VenezuelanOrinoco and coastal basins and the Guyanan highlands,where it preferentially occurs in dry ecoregions. P. chinaiand R. ecuadoriensis, both primarily trans-Andean, oc-cur in the upper (Andean) stretches of some Peruvianvalleys that drain into the Amazon. R. colombiensis, oc-casionally included in checklists of Amazoniantriatomines, is endemic to the Magdalena Valley dry for-ests, and therefore exclusively trans-Andean. Recordsof T. sordida and T. infestans in the Bolivian Amazonmay be the result of mislabelling or may represent pas-sively dispersed individuals carried beyond their naturalbiogeographic range. All the species in this class, per-
67Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 102(Suppl. I), 2007
haps with the exception of T. nigromaculata, seem how-ever to have limited tolerance to the general ecologicalconditions of the core Amazon region, and may there-fore be predicted to remain confined to relatively small,peripheral areas.
Artificial introductions - T. rubrofasciata is atropicopolitan species that occupies artificial environ-ments in harbour cities, generally in association with rats.Its presence in Belém or São Luís, the main sea harboursof the Brazilian Amazon region, is therefore hardly sur-prising. The most likely explanation, given the phyloge-netic affinities, geographical range, and habits of thisspecies, is that Amazonian populations were introducedby sea trade into the region. Domestic populations ofother, more dangerous species are also candidates toartificial introduction.
Particularly worrying is the case of R. prolixus, nowthe main vector of human Chagas disease, which is na-tive to the drier forests of the Orinoco basin system(mainly the Llanos) but may also colonise humid envi-ronments. There are sparse records of this species inseveral Amazonian localities (in Brazil, the Guyanas, andColombia), and the southern limits of sylvatic R.prolixus populations have not been defined so far. Theircapacity to adapt to palm tree genera with wide distribu-tion throughout Amazonia (such as Attalea) is well docu-mented, and may signal a potential for southward dis-persal. In the Venezuelan-Colombian Llanos, sylvatic R.prolixus from Attalea palms contribute to the infesta-tion and reinfestation of houses and peridomestic struc-tures. Finally, preliminary mt cytb data have revealed theexistence of a third cryptic taxon within the monophyl-etic group composed of R. prolixus and R. robustus I(sensu Monteiro et al. 2003). It occurs in Attalea palmsof the central Brazilian Amazon (FAM & FA-F, unpub-lished data). The presence of these genotypes in Amazo-nian moist forests configures a potentially dangeroussituation that should be carefully monitored. IntroducedT. infestans populations reached the southeastern limitsof the Brazilian Amazon, but were subsequently elimi-nated. In northeastern Bolivia, some of the regions wheresylvatic populations are common include inter-Andeanvalleys that drain into the Amazon. Both empirical fielddata and eco-geographical models (Gorla 2002) suggesthowever that T. infestans has a limited ability to thrivein the warm and humid climate conditions of most Ama-zonian forest regions. T. dimidiata natural populations areon the contrary present in many, extremely diverseecoregions (from the Yucatán Peninsula to Ecuador), in-cluding both dry and moist forest environments, and couldperhaps colonise artificial structures in the Amazon.
THE ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY CONTEXTOF SYNANTHROPIC TRENDS IN AMAZONIANTRIATOMINES
Amazonian triatomines are essentially sylvatic. Epi-demiological and entomological data suggest howeverthat sporadic contact between Trypanosoma cruzi-in-fected vectors and humans, even if relatively infrequent,occurs throughout the region. Most cases of T. cruzitransmission to humans are mediated by adult triatomines
that invade houses, attack forest workers or contami-nate food-processing equipment (see Aguilar et al. 2007,this volume). On the other hand, several native triatominespecies colonise artificial environments in well-definedmicro-regions. These different degrees of synanthropismmay be interpreted as a behavioural gradient starting withthe mere invasion of a house by an adult adventitiousbug and eventually leading to the stable infestation ofhuman dwellings by large breeding vector colonies. Un-derstanding the relative roles of ecological and evolu-tionary factors in the shaping of this gradient may sub-stantially improve our ability to predict which speciesare likely to progress along the gradient, and may alsohelp identify weak (and strong) links that could (or couldnot) be used as the targets of disease prevention strate-gies. We now present a tentative partition of such eco-logical and evolutionary components based on our over-view of the historical biogeography of Amazoniantriatomines.
Ecological factors - Random events and ecologicalpressure linked to anthropic landscape transformationare probably key factors in the initial portion of thebehavioural gradient leading to synanthropism. The dy-namics of land occupation in the Amazon moist forestecoregions illustrate particularly well this process. Ini-tially, forest clearance leads to a reduction of wild ver-tebrate populations; a pattern of selective deforestationin which palm trees are kept in peridomestic environ-ments is commonplace. Palm triatomine populations(mainly Rhodnius species) are probably subject to highmortality during this phase, but do not disappear com-pletely. The palms become suitable shelters for oppor-tunistic marsupials and rodents (Didelphis marsupialis,Rattus spp.) that proliferate in human-modified environ-ments. Residual triatomine populations may take advan-tage of this situation, using these (now abundant) bloodsources to recover and eventually build-up large colo-nies in some palms (Abad-Franch et al. 2005). When thesystem nears its carrying capacity, a reduced availabilityof blood per individual results in adult starved triatominesfrequently flying into nearby houses. Humans, palms,adventitious triatomines and opportunistic mammals (of-ten infected by T. cruzi) closely coexist in anthropic land-scapes throughout the Amazon, increasing disease trans-mission risk (Aguilar et al. 2007, this volume).
However, it is evident that only a small fraction ofthe triatomines that reach human dwellings founds vi-able domestic breeding colonies. Most die off; a fewmay perhaps lie eggs, but their offspring only reach thereproductive stage on very rare occasions. It is conceiv-able that the (relatively few) triatomine populations withthe capacity of thriving in artificial microenvironmentsmay have acquired (through natural selection) some char-acteristics that distinguish them from others of the samelineage that cannot establish domestic colonies.
Evolutionary factors - Natural selection of any traitthat could favour specifically the adaptation of atriatomine population to artificial ecotopes (built byhumans) can only have operated during the last 10 to 12thousand years, which is the approximate age of the first
68 Evolution of Amazonian triatomines • F Abad-Franch, FA Monteiro
known human settlements in the Americas. Such an eventseems extremely unlikely in the absence of a very strongand persistent directional selective pressure. We mayenvisage, however, that a set of traits exists that, havingbeen selected over millions of years for other reasons,confers the ability to exploit domestic habitats to thepopulations that possess it. Populations of the same lin-eage lacking those traits would fail to permanently in-fest households. In such a case, we would expect thatonly a few populations among all the possible candidateswithin a given lineage (those that possess the set of traitsin question) be able to successfully colonise artificialenvironments. The biogeographical-evolutionary sce-nario we have proposed here for the Rhodniini suggeststhat, at least for several lineages within the tribe, naturalselection of variants adapted to relatively dry microclimatesmay be related with the progressing of some species (andnot others) along the gradient of synanthropic behaviour.
Thus, all the populations of Rhodnius spp. that suc-ceed in colonising artificial environments (mainly of R.prolixus, but also of R. neglectus, R. nasutus, R. stali,R. pallescens, and R. ecuadoriensis) derive from ances-tral populations that adapted to arid or semi-arid climateslong before human beings reached the Americas. Alsowithin the Amazon, domestication foci (particularly ofR. stali, but also of T. maculata or P. herreri) are lo-cated in the regions with lowest mean annual rainfall orlongest rain-free periods (cf. Sombroek 2001). This pat-tern may in fact be even more general, affecting otherhumid forest triatomines; for instance, T. dimidiatapopulations seem to colonise human dwellings only outof the moist forests of the Yucatán-Petén region (Dornet al. 2007). These observations suggest that species orpopulations of triatomines that evolved to breed in ex-tremely humid microenvironments (such as Amazonianrainforest palm tree crowns) may have only a limitedpotential to successfully colonise artificial environ-ments, perhaps as a consequence of low tolerance to-wards the slightly drier microclimate of human dwell-ings. A prediction of this hypothesis is that field-col-lected specimens from moist forest ecotopes would failto thrive towards the drier end of an artificial humiditygradient in the laboratory. If confirmed, this pattern wouldsignal a truly evolutionary component of the process ofinfestation and colonisation of human environments bytriatomines. It could help us to identify differential risk ar-eas by mapping widely available climate data, and perhaps,in the future, to determine the potential for domiciliationof vector species or populations on an individual basis.
CONCLUSIONS
The systematic, ecological, and behavioural patternsof any group of organisms are gradually whittled alongthe evolutionary history of the lineage, from the moreor less ancient event at the origin of the clade to thecontemporary phenomena that shape the genetic struc-turing of conspecific populations. One major conse-quence, as Dobzhansky (1973) observed, is that adopt-ing an evolutionary perspective greatly widens our un-derstanding of those patterns, opening new paths in thesearch for satisfactory (realistic) answers to old diffi-
cult questions – from infectious disease control and sur-veillance to the mechanisms involved in the generation,maintenance and loss of biological diversity.
Equipped with ever more sophisticated analyticaltools (morphometrics, molecular markers, environmen-tal data obtained by remote sensors onboard artificialsatellites, radiocarbon dating) we can face the challengeof adopting this evolutionary stance in our research onChagas disease vectors, particularly when the questionsrefer to clearly monophyletic clades. Our review (pro-visional and incomplete) of the origin and diversifica-tion of Amazonian triatomines suggests research avenuesthat unfold in many directions, from the adequate under-standing of the evolution of whole tribes over millionsof years to the (probably necessary, and so far widelyneglected) demarcation of the truly evolutionary and‘merely’ ecological processes involved in the synan-thropic behavioural gradient of the Triatominae.
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