New geographic record of Meccus mazzotti in the State of Morelos, Mexico

Background: Chagas disease is caused by the hemoflagellate parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, transmitted by more than 133 species of hematophagous triatomines of the family Reduviidae. There are 8 million infected people in the world and 25 million live in at-risk areas. More than 34 species of triatomine carriers have been reported in Mexico, and Meccus mazzotti is considered an endemic species of epidemiological importance. Methods: Since 2017, a continuous search for triatomines has been carried out in the community of Tlayacapan, Morelos, Mexico, with the objective of determining the species present in that community, for their taxonomic identification the keys of Lent and Wygodzinsky (1979) are used. Results: 106 specimens were captured, of these 105 were identified as M. pallidipennis and 1 as M. mazzotti. Conclusion: For the first time, we report the finding of M. mazzotti in the state of Morelos, a region in which M. pallidipennis and T. barberi have predominated, so it is necessary to continue the search for this new species in that state and to reinforce the control measures for these vectors.