[Redescription of the female of Lutzomyia vattierae (Diptera: Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) from the serranía de La Macarena, Central Colombia].
BACKGROUND
Lutzomyia species of the subgenus Sciopemyia show restricted distribution and are rarely represented in sand fly captures, with the exception of L. sordellii, which is found from Costa Rica to Argentina. To date, only two of these species. L. sordellii and L. preclara have been reported in Colombia.


OBJECTIVE
The female of L. vattierae was redescribed and the record of this Sciopemyia species established for in the Colombian national park, serranía de La Macarena.


METHODS
The study was carried out in the Serrania de La Macarena, in western province of Meta. The serrania is a small mountain range situated between the Orinoco and Amazon River basins and geographically separated from the Andes. Sand flies were collected during two consecutive nights with a CDC light trap placed from 18:00 to 06:00 hours in a primary forest.


RESULTS
Four females belonging to the subgenus Sciopemyia were identified as L. vattierae, which differs from L. preclara by the presence of papillae on the third flagellomere and from L. sordellii by the form and length of the spermathecae and individual sperm ducts.


CONCLUSIONS
The number of known species of Sciopemyia in Colombia is now three and include L. sordellii, L. preclara, and L. vattierae.
Bejarano
Eduar Elías
EE
Grupo de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad de Sucre, Sincelejo, Colombia. eduarelias@yahoo.com
Duque
Patricia
P
Vélez
Iván Darío
ID
D000818:Animals; D003105:Colombia; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000145:classification*