Posterior spiracles of fourth instar larvae of four species of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) under scanning electron microscopy

Abstract

In the present study, posterior spiracles of laboratory-reared fourth instar larvae of Lutzomyia longipalpis, L. migonei, L. lenti, and L. whitmani (Diptera: Psychodidae) of the State of Ceará, Brazil, were examined under scanning electron microscopy. The number of papillae of spiracles examined varied according to the species examined, but no intraspecific differences were found. The importance of this structure to sand fly larva identification and phylogeny is commented.

Horizontal stratification of the sand fly fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a transitional vegetation between caatinga and tropical rain forest, state of Bahia, Brazil

“…According to Pessoa et al (2002), the number of papilla of the larval spiracles varies among the species, such as the L. longipalpis, which lives in drier environments and those species found in the forest areas, very humid, such as L. migonei and L. whitmani.…”

External morphology of sensory structures of fourth instar larvae of neotropical species of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) under scanning electron microscopy

“…In South America, Willians (1996, 1997) described by SEM the larvae of fourth and first instar of L. longipalpis. Fausto et al (1998) and Pessoa et al (2000) studied spiracles of South American sand fly larvae.…”

Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae): a review

“…In L. longipalpis, the number of the papillae in the thoracic spiracle is nine and 19 in the abdominal spiracle. This species also presented the largest thoracic and abdominal spiracular structures compared to L. youngii, L. ovallesi, L. evansi, L. trinidadensis, L. migonei, L. absonodonta and L. venezuelensis. Recently, more data on external morphology have been reported on the posterior spiracles (Pessoa et al 2000) and external sensory structures (Pessoa et al 2001) also in fourth instar larvae of L. longipalpis. The former structure had been already described by Fausto et al (1998) but showed no intraspecific variation for Brazilian strains of L. longipalpis (Pessoa et al 2001), although Venezuelan species of L. longipalpis and L. migonei presented variation (Fausto et al 1998).…”