Sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an urban area of Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Introduction:The sandfl y fauna is well studied globally. In Brazil, sandfl y fauna is very diverse in the Northeast region, especially in states such as Maranhão, Ceará, and Bahia. However, in the State of Pernambuco, the distribution of these insects is still not well known. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the different species that constitute the sandfl y fauna in an urban area in the Northeast region of Brazil, where an outbreak of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was recently reported. Methods: The sandfl ies were collected from an urban area endemic for VL, at fi ve collection points. The collection of samples was carried out from November 2014 to December 2015, using CDC light traps installed in intradomiciliary and peridomiciliary fashion. Results: The collected sandfl ies (n = 297) belonged to eight species: Lutzomyia lenti, Lutzomyia longipalpis, Lutzomyia sallesi, Lutzomyia migonei, Lutzomyia walkeri, Lutzomyia capixaba, Lutzomyia carmelinoi, and Lutzomyia whitmani. Most of the specimens collected were peridomiciliary (247/297, 83%). L. lenti (154/297, 52%) was the most frequently sampled species, followed by L. longipalpis (88/297, 29.6%), and L. sallesi (42/297, 14.1%), which together accounted for over 90% of the collected sandfl y specimens. Conclusions: The continued presence of L. longipalpis in urban areas, including that in intradomiciliary areas, with a predominance of females, is crucial because of the high possibility of them causing VL outbreaks, since this species is the main vector of Leishmania infantum in Brazil.

Home sweet home: sand flies find a refuge in remote indigenous villages in north-eastern Brazil, where leishmaniasis is endemic

“…Similar studies conducted in Pernambuco reported a species richness ranging between 4–25 species [6, 27, 30–32]. Until this study, 41 sand fly species were considered to be present in Pernambuco [29].…”

“…Moreover, some of the houses were surrounded by native vegetation, which may have favoured the encounter of M. capixaba in their interior. A study carried out in São Vicente Férrer (agreste region of Pernambuco) [30] reported a single female in the peridomicile and 24 males and 31 females in the forest environment. In Caruaru (agreste region of Pernambuco) [31] reported only three females of M. capixaba in the intradomicile.…”

Sandflies in an endemic area for Visceral Leishmaniasis in Northeastern Brazil

“…Some entomological surveys have been conducted in northeastern Brazil (GUIMARÃES et al, 2012;COSTA et al, 2013;MIRANDA et al, 2015;AGRA et al, 2016), but mostly in the interior of this region, while the coast has been less explored (LUCENA et al, 1984;SILVA et al, 2017a). In northeastern Brazil, Lutzomyia whitmani has generally been one of the more common species incriminated as a vector for L. braziliensis, whereas L. longipalpis is considered to be the most important transmitter of L. infantum (ANDRADE-FILHO et al, 2017;SILVA et al, 2017b;PESSOA-E-SILVA et al, 2019).…”

Phlebotomines in an area endemic for American cutaneous leishmaniasis in northeastern coast of Brazil

“…For instance, in the state of Pernambuco, the diversity of species is lower than in the states of Maranhão and Bahia, but it is much greater than in the states of Alagoas, Ceará, Paraíba, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe (DANTAS-TORRES et al, 2010). Studies conducted in the state of Pernambuco have identified species of Lutzomyia transmitters of ACL (LUCENA et al, 1984;BRANDÃO-FILHO et al, 1998;SILVA & VASCONCELOS, 2005;BALBINO et al, 2005;ANDRADE et al, 2005;DANTAS-TORRES et al, 2010;GUIMARÃES et al, 2012;MIRANDA et al, 2015;AGRA et al, 2016).…”