Richness and Diversity of Phlebotomine Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in North Khorasan Province, Northeast of Iran

Abstract

Background: We aimed to determine the species composition, richness and diversity indices of the Phlebotomine sand flies at different topographic condition in visceral (VL) and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) foci in the northeast of Iran.
 Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during 2016 in North Khorasan Province. The sampling was focused on rural regions, where human cases of VL and/or CL were diagnosed and reported during last 5 years. Sand flies were collected three times each twenty days during peak periods of seasonal activity. Seven collection methods were used. Some Alpha and Beta diversity indices were calculated.
 Results: Overall, 7253 sand flies were collected and identified. They were from 19 species of Phlebotominae sand­flies. Phlebotomus sergenti and Ph. papatasi were the most prevalent (84.9%) species in the study area. Species rich­ness (S) was very different in three areas and were18, 8, and 4 respectively but Evenness (E) were 0.357, 0.345, and 0.380, so evenness was almost equal in the study areas. Shannon Index (H ) and Margalef Richness Index were cal­culated 1.033, 0.718, 0.527 and 2.117, 0.8998, 0.4006 respectively.
 Conclusion: The sand fly fauna in North Khorasan Province was very rich and often included some of the most im­portant proven or suspected vectors of leishmaniasis. Species diversity indices (Shannon index, and Simpson’s in­dex) were not high due to decreasing in evenness. The Margalef richness index could accurately reflect the biodiver­sity of sand flies between three subtidal locations.

Species diversity and spatial distribution of CL/VL vectors: evidence for variation in gene expression of immunogenic SP15 and LeIF proteins due to bioclimatic characteristics and physiological status of sand flies, Iran

“…Vectors of visceral leishmaniasis indicated no considerable diversity in mountainous region except Dartum and Mahnan counties. Of note, in contrast with the recently published data [34], our findings did not show any similarity for the evenness indices in P. papatasi population in Northern Khorasan (Table 3). In fact, the evenness were ranged from E = 0.204 in mountainous BC zone for…”

Species diversity and spatial distribution of CL/VL vectors: Evidence for variation in gene expression of immunogenic SP15 and LeIF proteins due to bioclimatic characteristics and physiological status of sand flies, Iran

“…Vectors of visceral leishmaniasis indicated no considerable diversity in mountainous region except Dartum and Mahnan counties. Of note, in contrast with the recently published data [34], our findings did not show any similarity for the evenness indices in P. papatasi population in Northern Khorasan (Table 3). In fact, the evenness were ranged from E=0.204 in mountainous BC zone for Paraphlebotomus species up to E=0.721 in all three BC ecotopes for vectors of visceral leishmaniasis and Sergentomyia species (Fig.…”

Cutaneous and Visceral Leishmaniasis: Parasites, Vectors and Reservoir Hosts in Endemic Foci of North Khorasan, Northeastern Iran- a Narrative Review

“…Causative agents. The identification of causative agents in different foci using molecular tools revealed L. major in vectors and rodent reservoirs in North Khorasan Province [25,26]. The parasite species identification in humans was not available, but the clinical and epidemiological data suggested L. major as the causing agent of ZCL [7,24,27].…”

“…Up to now, no reports of Ph. sergenti infection with leishmania parasite is available from the province, but the reports showed this sandfly as the most predominant species [26,30]. Visceral leishmaniasis in North Khorasan Province a.…”