Agradecimentos: The authors are grateful to the Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas and to its collaborators who help in the maintenance of the Triatominae insectarium especially the Tacachi Hatanaka. The authors appreciate the researchers and students of the Parasitology Laboratory at the same institution. We thank the members of the Biology Institute of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp). We appreciate Professor Dr. Mauro Toledo Marelli and Dr. Walter Ceretti of the Faculty of Public Health, University of São Paulo, Laboratory of Entomology in Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, São Paulo, Brazil. TB, VFP and JAR: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, CAPES Organization (Ministry of Education, Brazilian Government, Brazil), process number 23038.005285/2011-12. J.A.R Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico CNPq, PQ-2, process 307 398/2018-8. Financial support had neither role in study design, collection, analysis, interpretation, and manuscript writing Ver menos

Abstract: The study of geometric morphometry has an impact on Triatominae studies. Currently, several taxonomic and systematic studies use this approach. The Triatominae subfamily comprises three fossil species and 154 extant species potentially capable of transmitting Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. This study aims to evaluate the external female genitalia of adult triatomines using multivariate geometric morphometric approaches, not only for validation but also for systematic inferences. Specimens belonging to the genera Panstrongylus, Psammolestes, Rhodnius, and Triatoma were evaluated, in addition to two species previously included in Triatoma: T. longipennis and T. phyllosoma. The results show that the external female genitalia have operational morphology and allow characterization of the species and the genera of the Triatominae. In addition, the multivariate technique enabled delimitation of the phylogenetic relationships of the subfamily, presenting results consistent with systematic studies. It can be concluded that the external female genitalia evaluated by geometric morphometry is a useful character for the taxonomy and systematics of Triatominae Ver menos