The primary transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, causative agent of Chagas disease, to humans and animals is through the feces and urine of Triatominae. Therefore, knowledge of their ecology and distribution is crucial for establishing effective surveillance programs with citizen participation. This is coupled with geographic distribution models to predict the risk of transmission in the areas most affected by Chagas disease. Therefore, this study aims to: a) document and validate citizen participation on the iNaturalist in the collection and observation of triatomines, as well as exploring risk factors; b) detect natural T. cruzi infection in triatomines using molecular and parasitological methods; c) to review the historical and recent literature of Triatoma gerstaeckeri (Stål 1859) in Mexico, and d) develop current and potential distribution models of T. gerstaeckeri to infer risk zones for parasite transmission in Mexico. Data of T. gerstaeckeri were collected from three sources: iNaturalist (n = 87), fieldwork data (n = 68), and scientific articles and theses (n = 882). iNaturalist observations were validated from photographs, specimen capture, and distribution overlap. The prevalence of natural infection by T. cruzi was 21.73 % (5/23) in T. gerstaeckeri from Nuevo Leon, with DTU strains TcI and TcIII, the first reports of DTU in the state. Citizen participation data like iNaturalist can potentially document the presence of triatomines at broad spatial scales. Still, they also represent an opportunity to engage and educate the public in the surveillance and control of these insect vectors associated with Chagas disease.

Introduction: Trypanosoma spp. and Leishmania spp. are protozoan parasites of public health importance. Bats can act as hosts, but evidence from Mexico remains fragmented and has rarely been examined within a One Health spatial framework. The Maya Train and the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (ICIT) were included because they represent drivers of landscape transformation in southern Mexico, where most pathogen-positive bat records are concentrated. Methods: We reviewed publications from 2001 to 2025 reporting detection of Trypanosoma spp. or Leishmania spp. in bats. Epidemiological and spatial variables were compiled. We georeferenced 54 pathogen-locality records, of which 14 provided sufficient information to estimate site-level prevalence. Distances to human settlements, roads, the ICIT, the Maya Train, and protected areas were analyzed in QGIS, and exploratory point-pattern, binomial generalized linear, and sensitivity analyses were conducted for presence and prevalence data. Results: Fourteen studies documented infection in 21 species of bats, mostly phyllostomids from southeastern Mexico. Site-level prevalence ranged from 1.4% to 69.5%, with variation in Wilson confidence intervals. Most detections occurred within 0–2 km of human settlements and roads, whereas distances to the ICIT, the Maya Train, and protected areas spanned gradients. Point-pattern analyses indicated clustered spatial structure, and among prevalence-based models, the association with road distance was most robust after outlier removal. Discussion: Records of Trypanosoma spp. and Leishmania spp. in bats were spatially structured in heterogeneous landscapes where settlements, roads, protected areas, and infrastructure-related polygons coexist. Although the compiled evidence remains uneven and the spatial analyses were exploratory, the results support the view that landscape transformation is relevant to of bat-associated trypanosomatid records and should be incorporated into future One Health surveillance and territorial planning.