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

ABSTRACT 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 environm...