Karyotype of Rhodnius montenegrensis (Hemiptera, Triatominae)

Abstract

The Triatominae subfamily comprises 6 tribes. The tribe Rhodniini comprises 2 genera and 22 nominal species. Rhodnius montenegrensis (Hemiptera, Triatominae) was recently described as evolutionarily related to R. robustus. Therefore, in order to contribute to karyosystematic study of the tribe Rhodniini, this report describes the number of chromosomes and compares the karyotype of R. montenegrensis to that of all other species in the tribe, in order to determine the karyotypic evolution of the tribe Rhodniini. The seminiferous tubules of adult males, after being removed and fixated on a cover slip, were processed with lacto-aceto-orcein for cytogenetic analysis. R. montenegrensis, as well as all other species of the tribe Rhodniini showed 22 chromosomes (20 autosomes + XY). Thus, we hereby describe the karyotype of the species R. montenegrensis and mainly highlight that the tribe Rhodniini displays karyotypic homogeneity, demonstrating itself as a derived group to a lesser extent when compared to the number of chromosomes of the common ancestors of the subfamily Triatominae.