[Proposal for a predator for the destruction of Triatoma infestans: Tarentola mauritanica].

The task of Chagas disease control is overwhelming. One of the measures is the destruction of the bugs which act as vectors. In this paper the authors suggest trying this with a predator, a voracious insectivorous lizard, a kind of gecko: the Tarentola mauritanica or Moorish Gecko. These geckos were transported fortuitously to Argentina in cargoes of cork from their natural habitat, the Mediterranean basin. They have adapted easily to their new environment. Their ability to eat the kissing bug (Triatoma infestans) was tested in the observations reported herein. Four adult geckos were caught in an area of the city of Buenos Aires, in the neighbourhood of a corkstop factory. These geckos were placed in a modified glass acuarium tank with fourteen ninphs and adult kissing bugs. The bugs were rapidly eaten by the geckos (Fig. 3). The advantages of this type of biological control are stressed. The lizard and the bugs share the same habitat and both are nocturnal. Both make themselves quite at home in human habitations. The lizards -as the birds- are refractory to Tripanosomiasis and so they cannot become reservoirs. This kind of gecko seems also to be resistant to the toxic action of Gammexane. Therefore the authors think it is worthwhile to try this possibility of bug control in the field. It will be necessary to favour the reproduction of gecko and promote an educational campaign to prevent their destruction by man emphasizing their usefulness and their domesticity. Though costs were not estimated, the authors believe that it would be cheaper to provide lizards to dwellers in the poor homes of the rural areas ("ranchos") than expensive campaigns with potentially dangerous insecticides.