Morphometric and morphological variation between two different populations of Phlebotomus major s.l. from endemic and non-endemic foci of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran

Abstract

Populations of Phlebotomus major were examined in two endemic and nonendemic foci of visceral leishmaniasis in Iran. Based on the shape of the aedeagus and ventrally located hairs of coxite and pharyngeal armatures, two morphotypes were found sympatrically in the endemic area of Borazjan. Significant differences in morphometric survey were observed in at least 11 measured characters. The aedeagus of the non-endemic Miyandoab morphotype, and also of a few specimens from Borazjan, is completely parallel throughout its length with a slightly expanded end. Ventrally located hairs of the middle coxite were longer and more compact. It is close morphologically to P. major neglectus (P. neglectus), which was recently recorded from Iran. It is also morphologically similar to P. notus, which has not yet been reported from Iran and needs further investigation. The aedeagus of the morphotype occurring only in Borazjan is narrower in the middle and the hairs are closer to the base of the coxite and are shorter and more outspread, which makes it similar to P. major krimensis or P. neglectus. The two morphotypes occurring sympatrically in Borazjan do not appear to be subspecies and it may be premature to propose them as separate species. Further investigation is needed to clarify the actual status of P. major s. l. in Iran.

Revision of the species composition and distribution of Turkish sand flies using DNA barcodes

“…The Phlebotomus ( Larroussius ) major complex comprises six morphologically similar and largely allopatric species ( P. neglectus , P. notus , P. major , P. syriacus , P. wenyoni and P. wui ). Phlebotomus neglectus and P. syriacus are only sympatric in the Middle East, including Turkey [12, 50]. Previously, our studies confirmed this sympatry and suggested the existence of a possible third taxon, using genetic data from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase b (Cyt-b) gene and the nuclear marker elongation factor (EF-1α) [12].…”

“…is well documented [52–54], the robust discrimination between its component members is crucial for vector incrimination studies. The morphological characters were shown to be insufficient for a specific delimitation [12, 50] but high interspecific genetic distances between the five lineages distributed in Turkey (4.1–13.0%) suggests that cox 1 barcoding is a useful method to discriminate between the members of the ‘Major Group’. Further comparative analysis of the additional nuclear markers and ecological data is necessary to clarify the taxonomic status of its sympatric members.…”

Sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in eight Balkan countries: historical review and region-wide entomological survey

“…Within the subgenus Larroussius, P. major (s.l. ), also referred to as "major group", represents a species complex that comprises six genetically distinct species with similar morphology [89,90]. Within this complex, P. major is expected to occur in India, Nepal and Pakistan; we may therefore assume that the historically recorded P. major specimens were in fact P. neglectus that is the only species of the complex occurring in Europe.…”

Sampling strategies for phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Europe

“…Even if most sand fly species can be distinguished morphologically it requires expertise to discern these differences. For instance, it is difficult to distinguish P. perniciosus from Phlebotomus longicuspis (Pesson et al , 2004) or Phlebotomus neglectus from Phlebotomus syriacus (Badakhshan et al , 2011; Erisoz Kasap et al , 2013). For damaged specimens and immature stages, molecular methods will be required for accurate identification.…”