The sand fly species (diptera: psychodidae) in an urban environment of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

The purpose of this study was to search for Lutzomyia longipalpis and Lutzomyia cruzi in the urban area of the Água Clara Municipality, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Two CDC traps were placed in the intradomicile and the peridomicile areas in four residences once a month, for three consecutive nights during 24 months. Were collected 11 species of sand flies totaling 3,418 specimens, 2,762 males and 656 females. Lu. longipalpis was the dominant species and there was no statistical difference between the peridomicile and intradomicile areas. Lu. cruzi was not found. The high capture rate for Lu. longipalpis in the urban area of Água Clara is cause for concern regarding necessary preventive measures to avoid future cases of visceral leishmaniasis.

Lutzomyia diamantinensis sp. nov., a new phlebotomine species (Diptera: Psychodidae) from a quartzite cave in Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

A new species of Brazilian phlebotomine sandfly found in Brazil, municipality of Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais, is described based on males and females collected in a quartzite cave. The body of spermathecae is continuous to the individual duct, lanky and tapering at the end, with conical shaped, not striated and presenting the head with dense setae. The male presents gonostyle with four spines and a small subterminal seta and gonocoxite with one group of persistent setae. The paramere is simple with a group of small setae on the dorsal apex. The morphological features of this new species permit its inclusion in the migonei group.

Biogeographical aspects of the occurrence of Nyssomyia neivai and Nyssomyia intermedia (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a sympatric area of the Brazilian savannah

Nyssomyia intermedia and Nyssomyia neivai constitute a species complex associated with Leishmania transmission. The aim of this study was to analyse the ecological profiles of the Ny. intermedia and Ny. neivai populations in a sympatric area in the Brazilian savannah along the banks of the Velhas River. Captures were performed from July 2003-June 2005 in two distinct environments: a gallery forest with various degrees of anthropogenic modification and animal shelters. A total of 20,508 Ny. neivai (86%) and Ny. intermedia (14%) sandflies were collected. The difference between the proportions of the sandflies that were collected (Ny. neivai/Ny. intermedia) per bank was significant. The right bank presented a greater number of sandflies (65%) and more preserved vegetation. The abundance of Ny. neivai was higher than that of Ny. intermedia on both banks. The results demonstrate that anthropic activities can affect the sandfly populations in this area, thereby leading to a reduction in species abundance. Nevertheless, the environments with higher levels of antropogenic modification displayed sandfly population numbers that favour the Leishmania transmission cycle.

Natural Leishmania sp. reservoirs and phlebotomine sandfly food source identification in Ibitipoca State Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Leishmania spp are distributed throughout the world and different species are associated with varying degrees of disease severity. However, leishmaniasis is thought to be confined to areas of the world where its insect vectors, sandflies, are present. Phlebotomine sandflies obtain blood meals from a variety of wild and domestic animals and sometimes from humans. These vectors transmit Leishmania spp, the aetiological agent of leishmaniasis. Identification of sandfly blood meals has generally been performed using serological methods, although a few studies have used molecular procedures in artificially fed insects. In this study, cytochrome b gene (cytB) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed in DNA samples isolated from 38 engorged Psychodopygus lloydi and the expected 359 bp fragment was identified from all of the samples. The amplified product was digested using restriction enzymes and analysed for restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). We identified food sources for 23 females; 34.8% yielded a primate-specific banding profile and 26.1% and 39.1% showed banding patterns specific to birds or mixed restriction profiles (rodent/marsupial, human/bird, rodent/marsupial/human), respectively. The food sources of 15 flies could not be identified. Two female P. lloydi were determined to be infected by Leishmania using internal transcribed spacer 1 and heat shock protein 70 kDa PCR-RFLP. The two female sandflies, both of which fed on rodents/marsupials, were further characterised as infected with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. These results constitute an important step towards applying methodologies based on cytB amplification as a tool for identifying the food sources of female sandflies.

Description of a new phlebotomine species, Martinsmyia reginae sp. nov. (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) from a cave in the state of Tocantins Brazil

As inhabitants of forested areas, caves and anthropic environments, the phlebotomines deserve special attention because some species are able to transmit trypanosomatids, bacteria and viruses to vertebrates. Phlebotomines are also a nuisance because they cause painful bites, which may ultimately produce allergic manifestations. The lack of information about the presence and behaviours of sand flies in caves has aroused the curiosity of researchers for a long time. In the present paper, we describe a new species of sand fly that was captured in a cave located in the municipal district of Arraias in the southeastern region of the state of Tocantins. The morphological features of this new species permit it to be included in the alphabetica group of the Martinsmyia genus.

Description of Evandromyia grimaldii sp. nov. (Diptera: Psychodidae), a new phlebotomine species from the state of Espírito Santo, Southeast Brazil

Phlebotomine sand flies present great species diversity, especially in Brazil, where there are about 300 known species. This work describes a new species of sand fly found in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, in the Reserva Biológica de Duas Bocas, municipality of Cariacica. Spermathecae with superficial striations and the common duct longer than the genital fork permit the inclusion of the new species in the subgenus Evandromyia s. str., series rupicola. The new species resemble Ev. rupicola from which it may be distinguished by the aspects of the spermatheca and the length of the genital filament of the male, longer in the new species.

Sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) collected on the banks of the Velhas River in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Leishmaniases are endemic to several Brazilian states, including Minas Gerais. As many cases of these diseases are diagnosed in Minas Gerais every year, this paper aimed to determine the diversity of the species of sandflies vector of leishmaniases, in Lassance and Corinto on the banks of the Velhas River. Over two years, 21,014 specimens of sandflies, belonging to 19 species were captured with light traps. Of these specimens, Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto 1926) (84.18 percent), Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva 1912) (13.41 percent), Evandromyia lenti(Mangabeira 1938) (0.99 percent) and Evandromyia sallesi (Galvão & Coutinho 1939) (0.48 percent) were the most represented. The former two species could be involved in the epidemiological chain of leishmaniasis in this region. No significant difference was found between the species compositions on the two river banks.

Taxonomic revision of phlebotomine sand fly species in the series davisi and panamensis of the subgenus Psychodopygus Mangabeira, 1941 (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae)

Several species of the subgenus Psychodopygus Mangabeira, 1941 are known to be leishmaniosis vectors in Brazil. Some of them are morphologically similar, which makes their identification quite difficult concerning epidemiological studies. The aim of the current work is to study the morphology of adult specimens of the subgenus Psychodopygus, in accordance with the morphological similarity and still taking into account the epidemiological importance of some species. Thus 11 species have been studied, including four subspecies of adult specimens deposited in the phlebotomine collection of Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou-Fiocruz. Morphological characters found in the literature and new features observed in this study were recorded in a taxonomic discussion format. These characters make it easy to separate such species. Four taxa, previously considered as subspecies, were raised to the category of species.

Flebotomíneos vetores e prevalência da Leishmaniose visceral canina, em área endêmica do município de Santa Luzia, região metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais/Brasil / Vectors phlebotomines and prevalence of the canine visceral Leishmaniosis in endemic area of the city of Santa Luzia, metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais/Brazil

O Brasil enfrenta atualmente a expansão e urbanização das leishmanioses com um grande número de casos humanos e cães positivos em várias cidades de grande e médio porte. [...] O presente trabalho avaliou aspectos epidemiológicos das leishmanioses relacionados à infecção canina e aosflebotomíneos em uma área endêmica do município de Santa Luzia/MG, com registros recentes de casos humanos autóctones de LVA e LTA. Foram realizadas coletassistematizadas mensais durante um ano, utilizando armadilhas luminosas de Falcão e não sistematizadas, com capturas manuais utilizando o capturador de Castro. As fêmeas capturadas foram identificadas e destinadas à verificação de infecção natural através da dissecção e detecção de DNA do parasito (PCR) em pools específicos contendo até 20 fêmeas cada. A densidade total de flebotomíneos foi correlacionada com dados climatológicos. No estudo da infecção canina foi verificada a soroprevalência, prevalência da infecção e da doença nos cães, utilizando técnicas sorológicas (RIFI e ELISA) e moleculares (PCR) para o diagnóstico. Foram utilizadas na PCR amostras clínicas de pele, medula óssea (de 43 cães sorologicamente positivos) e sangue periférico (202 cães). O isolamento e caracterização do parasito foram realizados utilizando amostras positivas da cultura de aspirado de medula óssea e amostras clínicas positivas dos 43 cães reativos na sorologia. Foi coletado um total de 1552 exemplares, sendo 1154 machos e 398 fêmeas, pertencentes a sete espécies de flebotomíneos, sendo a mais abundante a Lutzomyia whitmani (75 por cento) seguida por L. longipalpis (19 por cento), que são vetoras da LTA e LVA respectivamente. Não foi observada nenhuma correlação estatisticamente significativa entre a densidade total de flebotomíneos eos dados climatológicos durante o período de estudo. Foram dissecadas 102 fêmeas pertencentes a cinco espécies e em nenhuma foi observada a presença de formas flageladas.Para a detecção através da PCR foram constituíd.

Bilateral anomaly in the style of Micropygomyia schreiberi (Martins, Falcão & Silva) (Diptera, Psychodidae)

Este trabalho relata o encontro de um flebotomíneo com anomalia bilateral no dististilo. Esta anomalia é rara neste grupo de insetos e pode causar confusão na identificação específica e levar à descrição de novas espécies, aumentando a lista de sinonímia do grupo. O espécime foi medido e comparado com o holótipo e quatro parátipos de Micropygomyia schreiberi (Martins, Falcão & Silva, 1975) e concluímos que, de fato, se trata desta espécie.