Fig. 1

Sampling of Rhodnius ecuadoriensis populations. The map shows the approximate known distribution of R. ecuadoriensis in Ecuador, including the western-Andean wet premontane (or “cloud”) forests (green), the drier coastal lowlands (orange), the Andes–lowland transition and the southern, dry inter-Andean valleys associated with the Puyango (PB; blue) and Catamayo-Chira basins (C-CB; red). The approximate geographic location of each study population in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Manabí, El Oro, Loja and Peru is indicated by green, orange, blue, red and black circles, respectively; just one specimen was available from both Suyo and Cajamarca. Most Peruvian material came from Cascas, in the middle-upper Chicama basin (ChiB), La Libertad. Putative barriers to past or current bug dispersal are indicated with gold-colored double lines: the Huamaní range (HR), which closes off the C-CB to the south; the Sechura desert (SeD) on the northern Peruvian coastal plains; and the Huancabamba depression (HD). The semiarid Santa river basin (SB) appears to mark the southern limit of R. ecuadoriensis’ range. Rhodnius ecuadoriensis also occurs along the middle-upper (inter-Andean) stretches of the Marañón river valley (MV). See details in Additional file 1: Table S1 and main text