Abstract
Entomological surveillance of Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille), the principal vector of Chagas' disease in Guatemala was performed in 186 rural houses in Santa Maria Ixhuatan, Department of Santa Rosa, Guatemala from 1995 through 1996. 73.1% of bajareque houses (plastered walls with mud and grass fiber on bamboo grills) keeps the vector, followed by adobe (sun-dried mud bricks) with 39.1%, stones (34.6%), and block (8.6%), in total 41.9% of the houses in this village keeps vectors. House composition selected in random sampling for this study are bajareque (32.8%), block (30.3%), stone (13.5%), adobe (13.9%) and others (9.5%). When bajareque walls are plastered with lime or stucco, the vector infestation is dramatically reduced. This suggests that non-plastered bajareque house is the most favored house to the vectors in this locality. The number of vector's excrements on the walls reflects the number of bugs, as well as the number of domestic animals in a house. The vectors prefer dark corners close to beds. The natural infestion ratio of Trypanosoma cruzi was 29.3% in total, but negative for the first-stage nymph.
