Comparative study of the phlebotomine sand fly species (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) of the genera Nyssomyia Barretto, 1962, Bichromomyia Artemiev, 1991, and Migonemyia Galati, 1995, vectors of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in Brazil

Abstract

Phlebotominae, a group of insects with great medical importance especially in Brazil, are responsible for transmitting causal agents of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. In Brazil, the most important species of Leishmania Ross, 1903 are L. (Viannia) braziliensis Vianna, 1911, whose main vectors are Nyssomyia intermedia Lutz & Neiva, 1912, Ny. neivai Pinto, 1926, Ny. whitmani Antunes & Coutinho, 1939 and Migonemyia migonei França, 1920 and L. (Leishmania) amazonensis Lainson & Shaw, 1972, for which Bichromomyia flaviscutellata Mangabeira, 1942 is the main vector. The present study sought to investigate the morphological as well as geometrical and linear morphometric characteristics of these five sand flies in an attempt to cluster these species. Our aim was to reveal some of the characters that might help identify these phlebotomine species and also be useful in future phylogenetic studies. Comparative analyses by linear and geometric morphometric characters allowed us to distinguish the genera of these sand flies and assess the taxonomic position of Ny. intermedia and Ny. neivai, the so-called "cryptic species". Significant differences were observed in several of the analyzed structures, including the centroid size of the wings and the ratio between the ejaculatory filament and its tip. Based on the linear morphometric analytical results, the size of the centroids of the wings and their shapes indicated that these three species of Nyssomyia are phenetically more similar to Mg. migonei (all vectors of L. (V.) braziliensis) than to Bi. flaviscutellata (vector of L. (L.) amazonensis). These results are in agreement with the division of the genera Nyssomyia and Bichromomyia.

The role of wing geometric morphometrics in the identification of sandflies within the subgenus Lutzomyia

“…The differences in wing shape observed in the present study were similar to those reported by Godoy et al (2014), which are related to the landmarks represented by the apex of vein R1, the fork of veins R2 + R3 + R4, the apex of vein R5 and the apex of vein M4. The wing geometry results obtained by Godoy et al (2014) and in the current study showed the wings of sandflies of the genus Brumptomyia to be larger and shorter than those of species of the other genera. In addition, species of the genera Lutzomyia, Nyssomyia and Micropygomyia were found to have narrow and elongated wings.…”

“…The wing geometry results obtained by Godoy et al . () and in the current study showed the wings of sandflies of the genus Brumptomyia to be larger and shorter than those of species of the other genera. In addition, species of the genera Lutzomyia , Nyssomyia and Micropygomyia were found to have narrow and elongated wings.…”

“…The differences in wing shape observed in the present study were similar to those reported by Godoy et al . (), which are related to the landmarks represented by the apex of vein R1, the fork of veins R2 + R3 + R4, the apex of vein R5 and the apex of vein M4. The wing geometry results obtained by Godoy et al .…”

“…Morphometric studies to identify sibling phlebotomine species have been performed in recent decades (Añez et al, 1997;Dujardin et al, 1999Dujardin et al, , 2005Dujardin & Le Pont, 2000;Cazorla & Acosta, 2003;Sábio et al, 2014) and some have been based on wing geometry (Godoy et al, 2014;Shimabukuro et al, 2016). Thus, the aims of the current study were: (a) to analyse variations in the size and shape of wings among Lutzomyia species within the subgenus Lutzomyia and to compare these variations with those in other species from different genera and subgenera; (b) to determine whether wing geometry can be used to distinguish morphologically indistinguishable females within the subgenus Lutzomyia; (c) to identify clusters based on wing geometry and to determine whether these clusters are consistent with the classification for the species within the subgenus Lutzomyia proposed by Galati (2003), and (d) to analyse intraspecific variations in wing size between the sexes.…”

Automated identification of insect vectors of Chagas disease in Brazil and Mexico: the Virtual Vector Lab

“…Certainly, two-dimensional imagery is easiest to obtain and manage, such that organisms with relatively flattened body forms will be most tractable (e.g., ticks), although wings of other groups (e.g., mosquitoes and sandflies) may also offer opportunities (Zhou, Ling & Rohlf, 1985; Godoy et al, 2014; Lorenz, Ferraudo & Suesdek, 2015). Small size may present some level of challenge, as we will have to manage the complexities of magnification and associated distortion, but our photo apparatus has been designed to allow addition of accessories to facilitate such challenges in imaging.…”