Triatominae as a model of morphological plasticity under ecological pressure

The use of biochemical and genetic characters to explore species or populat ion relationships has been applied to taxonomic questions since the 60s. In responding to the central question of the evolutionary history of Triatomi nae, i.e. their monophyletic or polyphyletic origin, two important question s arise (i) to what extent is the morphologically-based classification vali d for assessing phylogenetic relationships and (ii) what are the main mecha nisms underlying speciation in Triatominae? Phenetic and genetic studies so far developed suggest that speciation in Triatominae may be a rapid proces s mainly driven by ecological factors.