title: Ecological interactions among phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an agroforestry environment of northeast Brazil.
abstract: Phlebotomine vectors transmit parasites and can cause visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or cutaneous leishmaniasis (TL). Phlebotomine females are hematophagous but need to ingest carbohydrates, possibly promoting the development of protozoan parasites in their digestive tract. The present study evaluated the species composition and abundance across several habitats in a metropolitan landscape, as well as associations among phlebotomines, plants, and local climatic parameters. Three consecutive monthly collections were carried out in an Atlantic Forest fragment, using CDC light traps in peridomestic areas and cashew, coconut, and mango tree. plantations. Eight species of phlebotomine were captured: Evandromyia evandroi, Lutzomyia longipalpis, Psathyromyia shannoni, Sciopemyia sordellii, Evandromyia walkeri, Psychodopygus wellcomei, Nyssomyia whitmani, and Nyssomyia intermedia, primarily from the forest environment. L. longipalpis was confirmed as a species adapted to anthropic environments, while P. wellcomei was shown to be predominately forest-dwelling. Phlebotomines exhibited diversified food consumption patterns in relation to carbohydrate sources. They fed on both native and exotic species of arboreal and shrubby vegetables and gramineous plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Entomology Laboratory, Department of Statistics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos Paulo Gomes
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: José Hilário Tavares
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Katrine Bezerra
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Cavalcanti
authors.forename: Paulo Roberto Medeiros
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: de Azevedo
authors.forename: Maria de Fátima Freire
authors.initials: Mde F
authors.lastname: de Melo Ximenes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D004175:Diptera / Q000502:physiology; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000635:transmission; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons
keywords: Lutzomyia longipalpis; Psychodopygus wellcomei; Sand fly; abundance; agroforestry environment; diversity