Regional genetic differentiation of Phlebotomus sergenti in three Moroccan foci of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania tropica

Phlebotomus sergenti was identified morphologically in samples from three Moroccan foci of leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania tropica in the provinces of Azilal, Essaouira and Taza. Three primary mitochondrial DNA lineages were identified, and they could be markers for regionally distributed cryptic species. Greater mitochondrial diversity in Azilal indicated that this central province could have been the origin of dispersal of P. sergenti or the zone of secondary contact. All except one of the 21 mitochondrial haplotypes showed a marked regional distribution, and this indicates that vector control would not always be followed by rapid, long-distance reinvasion. Only mitochondrial haplotype SER 18 was a putative marker for long-distance dispersal, for which there is no evidence of human assistance

On distinguishing the female of Psychodopygus wellcomei, a vector of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, from other squamiventris series females : 1. Characterization of Ps. squamiventris and Ps. s. maripaensis stat. nov. (Diptera : Psychodidae)

The present inability to distinguish accurately Psychodopygus wellcomei females from other females of the series squamiventris, is a serious hindrance to epidemiological studies on mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in Amazônia, where only Ps. wellcomei is a proven vector. The first step in reappraising the taxonomy of the series has been the characterization of two of its many non-dimensional taxa. These are now recognized as Ps. squamiventris squamiventris and Ps. s. maripaensis stat. nov., following a morphological study of seven geographically separate adult populations from northeastern Amazônia, including wild and laboratory-reared material from the type locality of Ps. squamiventris (Lutz and Neiva, 1912). The specific status of Pi. complexus is confirmed and the geographical ranges of some of the taxa of the series are amended. © 1982 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Geographical characteristics of Chrsyomya bezziana based on external morphology study

Correct identification of Chrysomya bezziana is a fundamental step to evaluate the successfulness of the eradication program based on Sterile Insect Techinque (SIT). However, geographical variation of the fly is being controversial among scientists. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of preservation method on visualisation of characters of external morphology and to analyse geographical variation of C. bezziana populations throughout their distribution regions. A total of 88 flies collected from 7 populations in Indonesia, 2 populations in Africa and each 1 population from Oman, India, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) were tested in the study. All larvae were removed from natural myiasis cases. The larvae were reared at laboratory until they became adult flies. The samples were preserved into two methods, wet (80% ethanol) and dried (pin) methods. Ten external characters of head and body were observed. Data were subjected to principal components and hierarchical cluster analyses in UNISTATÒ software. The Euclid distance measure was used for the cluster analysis, and the linking method used was the unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic average (UPGMA), to compute the distance between clusters. Results indicated that dried preservation (pinned samples) provided better external character than ethanol preservation. Based on external morphology of adult stages revealed that C. bezziana occurs as two geographical races, African and Asian races. There was no geographical variation of C. bezziana throughout Indonesian archipelago, except for the population from PNG forming its own cluster