Vital Statistics of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Under Laboratory Conditions: IV. Panstrongylus geniculatus

A cohort of 100 eggs of Panstrongylus geniculatus (Latreille) was reared in the laboratory under constant conditions (temperature 26±1°C, 60±10% RH), with mortality and fecundity data recorded weekly. We calculated stage-specific development times, age-specific mortality and fecundity (18.4 eggs/♀/wk), and stage-specific and total preadult mortality (31.6%), and the weekly intrinsic rate of natural increase (ro = 0.096), the finite population growth rate (λ = 1.109), the net reproductive rate (R0 = 60.45), and the generation time (T = 46.34 wk). Elasticity analysis showed that the dominant lifehistory trait determining λ was survival (particularly the adult female's survival). Adult females dominated the stage-specific reproductive value, and the egg stage dominated the stable stage distribution (SSD). The damping ratio (ρ = 1.096) suggests a relatively rapid period of recovery to a disturbed SSD. Results were compared with one previous study and conform relatively well, considering that environmental conditions were not the same. We estimated the colonizing ability of P. geniculatus, using as a criterion the ro/b index, and obtained the value of 0.74, an indicator of a good colonizer, and similar to well-known invasive species such as Rhodnius prolixus and Triatoma infestans. The life history traits and demographic parameters here presented for P. geniculatus are discussed in terms of their usefulness for evolutionary studies and vector control activities.