Description of a new phlebotomine species (Diptera: Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) and new records of sand flies from the State of Acre, northern Brazil

Abstract

Groundbreaking studies of phlebotomine sand fly populations in Assis Brasil, State of Acre, Brazil, resulted in the collection of 13 new records of phlebotomine sand flies and one previously undescribed species. Lutzomyia naiffi sp. nov. is described here. The new species is similar to Lutzomyia columbiana (Ristorcelli & Van Ty) in measurements and other morphological characters.

First description of Leishmania (Viannia) infection in Evandromyia saulensis, Pressatia sp. and Trichophoromyia auraensis (Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) in a transmission area of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Acre state, Amazon Basin, Brazil

“…Although the number of trapped specimens was relatively low (456 sandflies in total; 256 females and 200 males), this Amazon Region presents a large variety of species, as observed in other areas of primary forest (Bejarano et al 2002, Azevedo et al 2008, Teles et al 2013). Th.…”

“…Approximately 3,538 cases were reported between 2010 and 2013 in Acre, being 918 notifications registered only in the Rio Branco municipality and without records of visceral manifestation of the disease in the state (SINAN 2015). Regarding the sandfly fauna, 73 species were identified in the municipalities of Bujari, Xapuri, Rio Branco and Assis Brasil (Azevedo et al 2008, Teles et al 2013, Araujo-Pereira et al 2014). Of these, ten species were recognised as Leishmania vectors, suggesting the existence of three transmission cycles in Acre: L .…”

Description of Trichophoromyia ruifreitasi, a new phlebotomine species (Diptera, Psychodidae) from Acre State, Brazilian Amazon

“…A list of collected species was previously presented in Teles et al (2013). These authors reported that Trichophoromyia auraensis (Mangabeira) is a known vector in that area (Valdivia et al 2012; Araújo-Pereira et al 2014).…”

Trichophoromyia auraensis is a putative vector

“…In this region, 13 new occurrences were registered and two new species of sandflies were described ( Teles et al 2013 , Oliveira et al 2015 ). Moreover, the species of Leishmania in human cases were characterised by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ( Teles et al 2015 ).…”

“…In an epidemiological context, Amazon is undergoing rapid changes in environmental conditions that directly affect the population of sandfly vectors and therefore disease transmission. Although considered a region with an increasing incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis, knowledge of the geographical distribution of phlebotomine sandflies associated with disease transmission is still scarce for some regions, such as Acre state, where the cutaneous manifestation of the disease reached high prevalence in the last years ( Martins & Silva 1964 , Arias & Freitas 1982 , Arias et al 1984 , Silva-Nunes et al 2008 , Azevedo et al 2008 , Teles et al 2013, d , de Araujo-Pereira et al 2014 , Oliveira et al 2015 ).…”