Phlebotomine Fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an Area of Fishing Tourism in Central-Western Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify behavioral aspects of the sandfly fauna of a fishing tourism area in the municipality of Bonito (MS). Monthly captures were undertaken from December 2009 to November 2010, using automatic CDC type light traps, from 18h00 to 06h00, in a forested area, a savannah area, peridomiciles and animal shelters near peridomiciliary areas. Nyssomyia whitmani was the most frequent out of a total of 6,699 specimens collected, belonging to 16 species, followed by Psathyromyia bigeniculata and Lutzomyia longipalpis, found in all the environments investigated, though in their greatest numbers in the animal shelters. Ny. whitmani exhibited its highest frequencies during the dry months, coincident with the fishing season, when the risk of transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis for tourists and inhabitants increases. Noteworthy was the finding of two species naturally infected by flagellates: Ny. whitmani and Pa. bigeniculata. The local population and visiting tourists should be warned of the threat posed by leishmaniasis and the health authorities alerted to the need for adopting environmental sanitary measures, especially regarding such animal shelters as they seem to provide favorable conditions to the proliferation, maintenance and breeding opportunities of phlebotomines.

Attractiveness of black and white modified Shannon traps to phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae) in the Brazilian Amazon Basin, an area of intense transmission of American cutaneous leishmaniasis

“…shawi , there was a high population density of this species in the dry months. This result is similar to observations for other species of the genus Nyssomyia in other Brazilian localities [ 9 , 34 ].…”

Sandfly fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an urban area, Central-West of Brazil

“…braziliensis 56 . Pa. bigeniculata , species belonging to Shannon’s complex was found infected by flagellates in Bonito (MS) 57 . Ev.…”

Synanthropy and diversity of Phlebotominae in an area of intense transmission of visceral leishmaniasis in the South Pantanal floodplain, Midwest Brazil

“…The species has a wide geographic distribution and has been frequently reported from our study area [47, 48]. Reports of natural infection with flagellates [70, 73], as well as reports of vector competence in experimental transmission [74] and anthropophilic activity in various regions [61], have drawn attention to the importance of monitoring this species. Psathyromyia hermanlenti and Mt .…”

“…Evandromyia aldafalcaoae , a species restricted to Mato Grosso do Sul, has been frequently collected from disturbed environments—peridomestically in the Pantanal sub-region of Nhecolândia [67] and in Corumbá county [47, 55], as well as indoors [65, 68]. Nyssomyia whitmani , a vector of etiological agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis in several Brazilian localities, has been frequently reported from Mato Grosso do Sul, especially where outbreaks of tegumentary leishmaniasis have occurred [61, 69, 70, 71].…”