Entomological surveys of Lutzomyia flaviscutellata and other vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in municipalities with records of Leishmania amazonensis within the Bragança region of Pará State, Brazil.

In southeast Amazon, Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia) flaviscutellata is the incriminated vector of Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis, a causative agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). The optimal methods for surveying Lu. flaviscutellata were investigated in the Bragança region, northeast Pará State, Brazil, selected for the presence of Le. amazonensis. The performances of modified Disney traps and CDC light traps were compared in four ecotopes within and around four village transects during the wet and dry seasons. The physiological age of female sand flies was estimated and natural infection by flagellates was evaluated by dissection. Disney traps were better for detecting the presence of Lu. flaviscutellata, while CDC traps performed well for detecting Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia) antunesi, suspected vector of Leishmania lindenbergi. The former was more abundant during the wet season, when female flies were naturally infected with Le. amazonensis. These findings identified the environments of local transmission. In order to improve surveys of Lu. flaviscutellata as part of integrated epidemiological surveillance of CL, our recommendations include focusing vector surveys with Disney traps on forest fragments where people work, during the seasonal peak of the vector. Further field studies are required to make model-based predictions of seasonal variations in the vectorial capacity of vector populations

Primer registro de Lutzomyia termitophila Martins, Falcão e Silva (1964) y Lutzomyia hermanlenti Martins, Silva e Falcão (1970) (Diptera: Psychodidae) en el Estado de Pará, Brasil

Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.O estudo reporta o primeiro registro de Lutzomyia termitophila Martins, Falcão e Silva (1964) e Lutzomyia hermanlenti Martins, Silva e Falcão (1970) (Diptera: Psychodidae) no Estado do Pará, Brasil. Os espécimes foram capturados na Serra dos Carajás, Município de Parauapebas, mesorregião sudeste paraense, utilizando-se armadilhas CDC instaladas em diferentes áreas e tipos de vegetação, tendo sido encontrados na Serra Sul e Área de Proteção Ambiental do Igarapé Gelado. O encontro destes flebotomíneos na área estudada amplia a distribuição geográfica dos mesmos e eleva para 128 o número de espécies registradas no Estado do Pará.This study reports the first record of Lutzomyia termitophila Martins, Falcão and Silva (1964) and Lutzomyia hermanlenti Martins, Silva and Falcão (1970) (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Pará State, Brazil. Specimens were captured in Serra dos Carajás, Municipality of Parauapebas, Southeast Mesoregion of Pará, using CDC light traps installed in different areas with different types of vegetation. The specimens were examined in the Serra Sul and the Igarapé Gelado Environmental Protection Area. The discovery of these phlebotomine sand flies in the study area extends their geographic distribution and brings the total number of sand fly species recorded in Pará State to 128

SHORT COMMUNICATION - Recent Observations on the Sand Fly (Diptera: Psychodidae) Fauna of the State of Rondônia, Western Amazônia, Brazil: the Importance of Psychdopygus davisi as a Vector of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Sand flies were collected in the central region of the state of Rondônia (W 64°30' to 63°00' and S 10°00' to 11°00') using Shannon and CDC light traps from October 1997 to August 2000. A total of 85,850 specimens representing 78 named species were captured. Of these 14 were new records for Rondônia. The proportion of males/females was 1/1.131. Trypanosomatids, that are presently being identified, were detected in 11 species. Leishmania (Viannia) naiffi was recorded from Psychodopygus davisi and P. hirsutus. In the present study the dominant species was P. davisi (39.6%) followed by Lutzomyia whitmani (13.1%), P. carrerai (11.6%), and P. hirsutus (10.2%). The importance of P. davisi as a vector of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis is discussed

Scanning electron microscopy of sand flies of the Chagasi series, Psychodopygus (Diptera: Psychodidae) genus, focusing on the genitalia

Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. Departamento de Epidemiologia. São Paulo, SP, Brazil / Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Vigilância Entomológica em Díptera e Hemiptera. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Vigilância Entomológica em Díptera e Hemiptera. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Vigilância Entomológica em Díptera e Hemiptera. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Leônidas and Maria Deane. Laboratório de Ecologia de doenças transmissíveis na Amazônia. Manaus, AM, Brasil.Secretaria Estadual de Saúde de Rondônia. Laboratório Central de Saúde Pública. Rondônia, RO, Brazil.Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Vigilância Entomológica em Díptera e Hemiptera. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. Departamento de Epidemiologia. São Paulo, SP, Brazil.Males of cryptic or closely related species present great morphological variation in their genitalia, whereas females, such as those of the Chagasi Series of the Psychodopygus Mangabeira, 1941 genus, are more similar. Therefore, our aim was to study the fine structure of the male genitalia of five species of the Chagasi Series to better understand the variation in their morphology and its influence on the copulatory process. The sand fly species were captured in the following Brazilian states: Psychodopygus chagasi (Costa Lima, 1941) (Rondônia), Psychodopygus complexus (Mangabeira, 1941) (Tocantins), Psychodopygus squamiventris maripaensis (Floch & Abonnenc, 1946) (Amapá), Psychodopygus squamiventris squamiventris (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) (Amazonas), and Psychodopygus wellcomei Fraiha, Shaw & Lainson, 1971 (Pará and Ceará). Insects were stored in ethanol 70% (then dehydrated) and dry after they were sputtered with gold. The samples were observed under a scanning electron microscope. Microtrichiae, two types of trichoid sensilla, coeloconic and chaetic sensillae, were observed on the antenna of all species, with no difference between them. Only on the anepimeron of P. squamiventris squamiventris a modified ‘racket’-like scale was observed. As for the male genitalia, the setae and structures of each species were fully described, such as the small setae on the paramere apex of the P. squamiventris subspecies, and the grooves present in this region and on the paramere lobe of P. complexus and P. wellcomei, which are impossible to observe with optic microscopy. New information is thus provided on the male genitalia, which can contribute to future bionomic studies of these species

Natural

In Amazonian Brazil the etiological agents of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) belong to at least seven Leishmania species but little is known about the putative phlebotomine sand fly vectors in different biomes. In 2002–2003 a survey of the phlebotomine fauna was undertaken in the “Floresta Nacional do Tapajós”, Belterra municipality, in the lower Amazon region, western Pará State, Brazil, where we recently confirmed the presence of a putative hybrid parasite, L. (V.) guyanensis × L. (V.) shawi shawi. Sand flies were collected from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps, Shannon traps and by aspiration on tree bases. Females were dissected and attempts to isolate any flagellate infections were made by inoculating homogenized midguts into Difco B45 medium. Isolates were characterized by monoclonal antibodies and isoenzyme electrophoresis. A total of 9,704 sand flies, belonging to 68 species or subspecies, were collected. Infections were found in the following sand flies: L. (V.) naiffi with Psychodopygus hirsutus hirsutus (1) and Ps. davisi (2); and L. (V.) shawi shawi with Nyssomyia whitmani (3) and Lutzomyia gomezi (1). These results provide strong evidence of new putative transmission cycles for L. (V.) naiffi and L. (V.) s. shawi

Natural Leishmania (Viannia) spp. infections in phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from the Brazilian Amazon region reveal new putative transmission cycles of American cutaneous leishmaniasis

In Amazonian Brazil the etiological agents of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) belong to at least seven Leishmania species but little is known about the putative phlebotomine sand fly vectors in different biomes. In 2002–2003 a survey of the phlebotomine fauna was undertaken in the “Floresta Nacional do Tapajós”, Belterra municipality, in the lower Amazon region, western Pará State, Brazil, where we recently confirmed the presence of a putative hybrid parasite, L. (V.) guyanensis × L. (V.) shawi shawi. Sand flies were collected from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps, Shannon traps and by aspiration on tree bases. Females were dissected and attempts to isolate any flagellate infections were made by inoculating homogenized midguts into Difco B45 medium. Isolates were characterized by monoclonal antibodies and isoenzyme electrophoresis. A total of 9,704 sand flies, belonging to 68 species or subspecies, were collected. Infections were found in the following sand flies: L. (V.) naiffi with Psychodopygus hirsutus hirsutus (1) and Ps. davisi (2); and L. (V.) shawi shawi with Nyssomyia whitmani (3) and Lutzomyia gomezi (1). These results provide strong evidence of new putative transmission cycles for L. (V.) naiffi and L. (V.) s. shawi