Genetic variability of Triatoma brasiliensis (Hemiptera : Reduviidae) populations

Isoenzymes, random amplified polymorphic DNA. (RAPD), and morphometry were used to compare genetic variability within and between three populations of Triatoma brasiliensis Neiva, 1911 from northeast Brazil. The isoenzyme pro files were identical for the three populations, whereas the complex RAPD pa tterns allowed clear discrimination between the three. Morphometric analysi s, using characters of the head capsule, also showed discrimination between the three populations but only in comparisons of males, not females. The r esults show considerable genetic heterogeneity in T. brasiliensis with an i ndication of geographic structuring possibly resulting from a recent series of domestication events.