title: A molecular study of the genus Spelaeomyia (Diptera: Phlebotominae) with description of the male of Spelaeomyia moucheti.
abstract: The genus Spelaeomyia includes four African species considered as being cavernicolous: Spelaeomyia darlingi, Spelaeomyia mirabilis, Spelaeomyia emilii and Spelaeomyia moucheti. Despite a potential role in Leishmania major leishmaniasis transmission in Mali, no molecular studies and only few morphological studies have addressed relationships between species of Spelaeomyia.
  
  
  
  Specimens of Sa. moucheti were collected in two different sites in Gabon. Spelaeomyia emilii and Sa. darlingi specimens came from Gabon and Mali. Specimens of Sa. mirabilis were collected in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon. All specimens were caught using CDC miniature light traps, then dissected, both heads and genitalia were kept for morphological analysis and the rest of the bodies were kept for molecular processing and analyses.
  
  
  
  Some unidentified males are associated to Sa. moucheti females using molecular tools and are described for the first time. A new morphological feature is observed on the spermathecae of the female and new drawings are provided. For the first time a phylogenetic analysis is carried out on rDNA and mtDNA markers and it shows that Sa. moucheti is the sister species of Sa. mirabilis.
  
  
  
  Spelaeomyia moucheti is the sister species of Sa. mirabilis. This result is in agreement with the sharing of morphological characters between these closely related species. Moreover, these two species are not as cavernicolous as literature previously indicated. They were caught in open rainforest in Gabon.
authors.affiliation: Unité MIVEGEC, UMR 224-5290 IRD-CNRS-UM, Centre IRD de Montpellier, BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier, France. nil.rahola@ird.fr.|Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP 769, Franceville, Gabon. nil.rahola@ird.fr.
authors.forename: Nil
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4067-6438
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rahola
authors.affiliation: Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, ANSES, SFR Cap santé, EA 4688-USC "Transmission vectorielle et épidémiosurveillance de maladies parasitaires (VECPAR)", Reims, France.
authors.forename: Leila Hadj
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Henni
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP 769, Franceville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Judicael
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Obame
authors.affiliation: Unité MIVEGEC, UMR 224-5290 IRD-CNRS-UM, Centre IRD de Montpellier, BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier, France.|Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP 769, Franceville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ayala
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP 769, Franceville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Boris Kevin
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Makanga
authors.affiliation: Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, ANSES, SFR Cap santé, EA 4688-USC "Transmission vectorielle et épidémiosurveillance de maladies parasitaires (VECPAR)", Reims, France.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lehrter
authors.affiliation: Parasitologie, Hôpital Avicenne, Université de Paris 13, Paris, France & unité des virus émergents, UMR 190 (IRD-AMU - EHESP), Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Arezki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Izri
authors.affiliation: Unité MIVEGEC, UMR 224-5290 IRD-CNRS-UM, Centre IRD de Montpellier, BP 64501, 34394, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paupy
authors.affiliation: Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, ANSES, SFR Cap santé, EA 4688-USC "Transmission vectorielle et épidémiosurveillance de maladies parasitaires (VECPAR)", Reims, France.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Depaquit
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D004175:Diptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005681:Gabon; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D045303:Cytochromes b
keywords: Africa; Morphology; Phylogeny; Sand fly; Spelaeomyia