Cavernicola pilosa Barber ( Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae ) infected by Trypanosoma cruzi marinkellei Baker et al. ( Kinetoplastida, Trypanosomatidae ): Household invasion and risk in the state of Acre, Western Brazilian Amazon

The genus Cavernicola belongs to the subfamily Triatominae, which includes insect vectors of Chagas disease. This study reports the occurrence of Cavernicola pilosa Barber infected with Trypanosoma cruzi marinkellei Baker et al. (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in the state of Acre, Brazil. The triatomine bug was collected inside a house by a resident of Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre. Specimen identification was based on the morphological characters described by Galvão (2014). Trypanosomatid identification was performed through DNA extraction from the abdominal contents of the specimen, followed by fluorescent fragment length barcoding and phylogenetic analyses using the V7-V8 region of the SSU rRNA and the gGAPDH gene. The insect was identified as a male Cavernicola pilosa infected with Trypanosoma cruzi marinkellei. This record increases the known number of triatomine species in the state of Acre from 11 to 12 and the number of genera from four to five. Furthermore, it represents the first documented occurrence of a Triatominae species infected with T. c. marinkellei in Acre, highlighting the need for further studies to elucidate the distribution, ecology and vectorial potential of C. pilosa in the region.