From February 1999 to February 2000

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Natural infections with Leishmania were found in females of the phlebotomine sand flies Lutzomyia neivai (Pinto) (= Nyssomyia neivai) and Lutzomyia sallesi (Galvão & Coutinho) (= Evandromyia sallesi) (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Lassance, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Promastigotes were found in the pyloric region of the former species and in the abdominal midgut of the latter species. Insects found to be infected by microscopic examination were macerated in saline solution and inoculated into hamsters. Subsequent analysis by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism revealed both isolates to belong to the species Leishmania infantum chagasi Cunha & Chagas.

Phlebotomines are invertebrate hosts of Leishmania genus species which are etiological agents of leishmaniases in humans and other mammals. Sandflies are often collected in entomological studies of caves both in the inner area and the adjacent environments. Caves are ecotypes clearly different from the external environment. Several caves have been opened to public visitation before any studies were performed and the places do not have scientific monitoring of the fauna, flora, geological and geographical characteristics. These events can lead to the loss of geological and biological information. Considering these aspects, this study aimed to describe the sand fly fauna, including the ecological features, in a limestone cave at the Speleological Province of Bambuí (Minas Gerais State, Brazil). A total of 8,354 specimens of sandflies belonging to 29 species were analyzed: Lutzomyia cavernicola (20%), Nyssomyia intermedia (15%), Martinsmyia oliveirai (13%), Evandromyia spelunca (12%), Evandromyia sallesi (11%), Migonemyia migonei (9%), Nyssomyia whitmani (9%), Sciopemyia sordellii (4%) and Lutzomyia longipalpis (2%). The others species represent 5% of the total. This manuscript presents data found on richness, diversity, evenness and seasonality, comparing the sand fly fauna trapped in the cave and its surroundings.

Over the last 20 years, there has been an increase in the number of leishmaniasis cases in Brazil. Belo Horizonte (BH) is one of the most highly populated Brazilian cities that is affected by visceral leishmaniasis (VL

In Brazil, Leishmania transmission involves several species of phlebotomine sand flies that are closely associated with different parasites and reservoirs, giving rise to different transmission cycles. The present study focused on naturally infected phlebotomines originating from Santa Luzia, a municipality near Belo Horizonte, capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, in which leishmaniasis are endemic. Systematic and non systematic approaches,involving the use of light traps and direct aspiration from resting sites, respectively, were used to collect females and flies. Identification of the captured insects and determination of natural infection by Leishmania spp. were performed using both conventional dissection methods and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The dissection of 102 sand flies allowed five species of Lutzomyia to be identified, although no flagellate parasite forms were observed.In addition, 211 sand flies were identified, were separated according to species, and were combined into 11 pools of up to 20 individuals each. PCR analyses showed that two of these pools were infected with Leishmania:one pool of Lu. whitmani was infected with Le. (Viannia) spp. and another of Lu. cortelezzii was infected with Le. chagasi. This suggests that Lu. whitmani may be a possible vector of Leishmania in the study area, and more work needs to be performed to assess the role of Lu. cortelezzii as a vector.