Introduction: Rickettsioses are zoonotic diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Rickettsia and transmitted to man by means of arthropod vectors such as ticks, fleas, mites and lice. Historically, Caldas Department has reported a significant number of cases of murine typhus to the Colombian national health surveillance system, and consequent studies of flea-borne rickettsiosis identified the circulation of Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia felis in multiple municipalities. Our aim was to genotype species of Rickettsia detected in fleas collected from domestic and wild mammals in Caldas. Methodology: Flea samples were taken by convenience sampling from dogs, cats and wild mammals (rodents and marsupials) in 26 municipalities. Specimens were classified by current taxonomic keys and pooled for DNA extraction and molecular screening for Rickettsia spp. by PCR amplification of gltA, htrA and sca5 genes. Positive samples were genotyped by enzyme digestion (htrA) and sequencing. Results: A total of 1388 flea samples were collected. Rickettsia DNA was amplified in 818 (gltA), 883 (htrA) and 424 (sca5) flea pools. Alignment analysis with available Rickettsia DNA sequences showed greater similarity with R. asembonensis (gltA) and with R. felis (sca5 and htrA). Restriction pattern was compatible with R. felis. R. typhi was not identified. Conclusion: The present study confirms the presence and high prevalence of R. asembonensis and R. felis in fleas from domestic and wild animals in different municipalities from Caldas Department.

Seasonal temperature and precipitation patterns on a global scale are main factors to which insects and plants adapt through natural selection, although periodic outbreaks in insect populations may occur in areas where they had not been previously reported, a phenomenon considered as a consequence of global warming. In this study, we estimate the distribution of sugarcane borers, Diatraea spp., under different climate scenarios (rcp26, rcp45, rcp60 and rcp85.) Insects were collected weekly in four sugarcane fields from four different towns in the department of Caldas (Colombia) during 2017, and also in several sugarcane fields in the Cauca River Valley (CRV) between 2010 and 2017. The influence of climatic variables on different agro-ecological zones of the CRV sugarcane fields was defined by climatic data between 2010 and 2017 (maximum and minimum daily temperatures, and accumulated precipitation). The estimate of an optimal niche for Diatraea spp. includes temperatures between 20°C and 23°C, accumulated annual rainfall between 1200 and 1500 mm, dry months with precipitations below 50 mm, slopes of less than 0.05 degrees, crop heterogeneity with an index of 0.2 and primary production values of 1.0. Data suggests Diatraea population is considerably influenced by adverse climate change effects, under the premise of an increase in local and global temperatures, reducing its population niches as well as the number of individuals.

statementDiatraea spp. is susceptible to temperature variations due to climate change, it is presumed that its adaptability could benefit Diatraea spp. in establishing itself in new areas. AbstractSeasonal temperature and precipitation patterns on a global scale are the main factors to identify the sharing of organisms. Accordingly, insects and plants come to adapt to combinations of various factors through natural selection, although periodic outbreaks in insect populations occur especially in areas where they have not been previously reported, is a phenomenon that is considered as a consequence of global warming. In the study, we sought estimate the distribution of the sugarcane stem borers, Diatraea spp., under different climate scenarios. Weekly collections were carried out in four sugarcane field plots in four different towns from the Colombian department of Caldas during a consecutive year, and also from sugarcane plots from the Cauca river valley between 2010 and 2017. The influence of climatic variables on the climate in different agro-ecological zones of sugarcane crops (Saccharum sp.) was defined by using climatic data (maximum, minimum and daily temperatures; accumulated precipitation) on a daily scale between 2010 and 2017.MODESTR® was used to generate the distribution maps to estimate probability distributions subject to restrictions given by the environmental information. Diatraea spp.is strongly influenced by the effects of climate change, considerably reducing its population niches as well as the number of individuals. The estimate of an optimal niche for Diatraea spp. includes temperatures between 20°C and 23°C, accumulated annual rainfall between 1200 and 1500 mm, months with dry conditions, whose precipitation is below 50 mm, slopes below 0.05, crop heterogeneity with an index of 0.2 and primary production values of 1.0.

The sugarcane (Saccharum sp. ), of great importance for being one of the most traditional rural agroindustries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as part of the agricultural systems, is vulnerable to increases or reductions in the incidence of pests associated with extreme events of climate change, such as prolonged droughts, hurricanes, heavy and out of season rains, among others, contributing to the increase losses in agricultural production , which forces farmers to make excessive expenditures on pesticides that generally fail to solve the issue. (Vázquez, 2011). The main pest belongs to the Diatraea complex Gallego et al., 1996), a larval stage perforator habit. Different field evaluations have revealed the presence of a species that had not been reported in sugarcane crops, Diatraea busckella, and to corroborate the finding, a method of identification was needed whose advantage was to be quick and also low cost, in this sense, geometric morphometry is a mathematical tool with biological basis (Bookstein, 1991), which allows to decompose the variation resulting from the physiology of individuals of the most stable individuals of the population, product of the genetic component. CLIC (Collecting Landmarks for Identification and Characterization) was used for identification, with reference to the previous right wing (De La Riva et al., 2001;Belen et al., 2004;Schachter-Broide et al., 2004;Dvorak et al., 2006; Soto Vivas et al., 2007). Wing morphometry was performed using generalized Procrustes analysis (Rohlf and Marcus, 1993). The analysis clearly differentiated between D. busckella and D. saccharalis, eliminating the environmental factors that could generate some level of error, being considered a support tool that validates the molecular biology processes for the identification of organisms.