Journal of Medical Entomology (1995) 32, 538-548

Amy C. Morrison, Cristina Ferro, Raul Pardo, Mariela Torres, B. Devlin, Mark L. Wilson and Robert B. Tesh (1995)
Seasonal abundance of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) at an endemic focus of visceral leishmaniasis in Colombia
Journal of Medical Entomology 32 (4), 538-548
Abstract: Ecological studies on the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz and Neiva) were conducted during 1990-1993 in a small rural community in Colombia where American visceral leishmaniasis is endemic. Standardized weekly sand fly collections made from pigpens and natural resting sites displayed a bimodal annual abundance cycle, with a small peak occurring in October-November and a larger one in April-May. Time series analysis was employed to quantify the associations between sand fly abundance and weather factors (temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall). In addition to a prominent 6-mo cycle, Fourier analysis of the collection data demonstrated that the L. longipalpis population also exhibited a 5- to 8-wk cycle that may represent the length of larval development. Autoregressive moving average models were fit to weekly collection data and their residuals were regressed against rainfall, temperature, and relative humidity. A significant positive association between female L. longipalpis abundance and the relative humidity and rainfall recorded 3 wk earlier was found, indicating that these factors may be of value in predicting sand fly abundance. Additionally, these data indicated that L. longipalpis larvae may become quiescent during adverse conditions.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
population dynamics/ epidemiology
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Lutzomyia longipalpis		Colombia