[Life cycle of Triatoma dimidiata latreille, 1811 (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) under laboratory conditions: production of nymphs for biological tests].

Introduction: Despite the importance of Triatoma dimidiata as a vector of Chagas disease, little is known of its life cycle and the efficient production of these insects for biological tests.

Objective: Life cycle characteristics in the laboratory were described and optimum nutritional conditions were established for the efficient production of nymphs V stage for biological tests.

Materials And Methods: We determined the time of development of the nymphal stage under controlled laboratory conditions until reaching the adult stage. In a massive rearing of stage V nymphs, fed and weighted after varying periods of fasting, distributed in weight ranges to obtain the largest proportion of individuals.

Results: The time mean from egg to adult was 269 days, with a wide range of duration (174 to 598 days) and the times required for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th stage development was 33, 37, 41, 61 and 69 days, respectively, with a mortality of 22%. The optimum treatment was 22 days of fasting, in which 76% of the nymphs reached stage V with a weight range from 201 to 300 mg.

Conclusion: Triatoma dimidiata presented development time with broad range for some individuals, possibly due to the irregularity in the food availability. A homogenous weight range was attained with a regime of 22 days of fasting with an optimum production of stage V nymphs.