Microtriatoma borbai Lent & Wygodzinsky, 1979

Galvão, Cleber, Gil-Santana, Hélcio R. & Oliveira, Jader de, 2024, The taxonomic catalog of the Brazilian fauna: biodiversity and geographical distribution of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Brazil, Zoologia (e 24006) 41, pp. 1-28 : 4

Microtriatoma borbai Lent & Wygodzinsky, 1979

Distribution. EspÍrito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná.

Public health importance. This is a sylvatic species that inhabits mammal burrows (rodents, marsupials) but refuses to feed on pigeons, chickens, mice, or humans in the laboratory. However, it has been known to be naturally infected by T. cruzi ( Lent and Wygodzinsky 1979) .

Remarks. In a study conducted by Gurgel-Gonçalves et al. (2012a), a female of M. borbai was discovered among 2,154 triatomine specimens collected from Mauritia flexuosa L.f. ( Arecales : Arecaceae ), a type of palm tree, in various locations across Alto Garça, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The researchers suggested that the presence of M. borbai in M. flexuosa may be linked to the existence of the white-eared opossum, Didelphis albiventris Lund, 1840 (Marsupialia: Didelphidae ), within these palm trees. Microtriatoma borbai in the state of EspÍrito Santo, Brazil, was found in a hybrid eucalyptus plantation in Aracruz ( Gil-Santana et al. 2021).