Hybrid Collapse Confirms the Specific Status of Sherlock and Serafim, 1967 (Hemiptera, Triatominae), an Endemic Species in Brazil.

Six to seven million people worldwide are estimated to be infected with , the etiologic agent of Chagas disease transmitted mainly by triatomines. was recently collected in the Brazilian state of Bahia and revalidated using different approaches. The main criterion used to define a "good" biological species is reproductive isolation, so we evaluated the cytogenetics of first-generation (F1) hybrids resulting from the experimental cross between females and males to possibly characterize the postzygotic isolation associated with the hybrid breakdown. All cells analyzed presented a karyotype of 2 = 22 and a pair of univalent autosomes. This chromosome behavior represents hybrid collapse and underscores the specific status of . Thus, we have characterized the presence of the hybrid collapse phenomenon in an experimental cross, and we confirm the specific status of , thus contributing to the Triatominae taxonomy.