Triatoma infestans

During the Beagle survey voyage, Charles Darwin noted in his journal for 26 March 1835 having "experienced an attack, & it deserves no less a name, of the Benchuca, the great black bug of the Pampas. It is most disgusting to feel soft wingless insects, about an inch long, crawling over ones body; before sucking they are quite thin, but afterwards round & bloated with blood, & in this state they are easily squashed." Richard Keynes describes this Benchuca as being Triatoma infestans. Darwin is speculated to have died from chronic Chagas disease.

Distribution

T. infestans has both a wide range of habitats/ecologies and geographic areas it inhabits - the former being the reason for the latter.

Ecological distribution

In South America T. infestans is almost an exclusively domestic species, especially as a household pest in the Cochabamba Valley in Bolivia and parts of Paraguay and Argentina.

There remain a few freeliving populations in Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil.

Tends to displace other Triatominae vectors of Chagas including Panstrongylus megistus, T. sordida, T. brasiliensis, and T. pseudomaculata.

Geographical distribution

Brazil (only widespread from 1955-1964, likely by immigrants from the south to Pernambuco, likely continuing to be spread by internal migration), El Salvador, Venezuela, Peru (anthropic transportation), Argentina (especially as a household pest in some areas), Paraguay (especially as a household pest in some areas). In Chile's Atacama Region the vinchuca has been noted to be common in Inca de Oro and Quebrada Chañaral Alto.