[Biology of Triatoma vitticeps (Stal, 1859) under laboratory conditions (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae). II. Resistance to fasting].

Following the study on the biology of Triatoma vitticeps (Gonçalves et al., 1988) observations have been made on its resistance to starvation. Of the 286 eggs obtained only 201 hatched and reached the intended stage for observation. The others did not eclode, neither reached the ecdisis nor died, without explanation. The nymphs were kept, separately, in Borrel flasks and properly listed. The blood-meal was performed in mice, although the insects were kept without feeding as soon as moulted. The starvation was evaluated in two ways: the time-lapse in days between the last meal/death and between moult/death. The starvation was directly related with the developmental stage. In relation to the parameters last meal/death and moult/death, both sexes were less resistant than 3rd and 2nd stage, respectively. The experiment have been carried out for 15 months and by this time the average minimum and maximum temperatures and the humidity were 25 +/- 2 degrees C - 28 +/- 2 degrees C and 81 +/- 3% UR, respectively. The material spent belongs to the triatomine colony of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute Department of Entomology.