Journal of Medical Entomology (1998) 35, 778-781

Hassane Mahamat and Ahmed Hassanali (1998)
Cuticular hydrocarbon composition analysis for taxonomic differentiation of phlebotomine sandfly species (Diptera : Psychodidae) in Kenya
Journal of Medical Entomology 35 (5), 778-781
Abstract: Gas chromatographic patterns of cuticular hydrocarbon composition were analyzed for 9 sandfly species, including Plebotomus (Larroussius) aculeatus Lewis, Minter and Ashford [syn. P. (L.) elgonensis Ngoka, Madel and Mutinga], P. (sensu stricto) duboscqi Neveu-Lemaire, P. (Synphlebotomus) martini Parrot, P. pedifer (Larroussius) Lewis, Mutinga and Ashford, Sentomiya (Parrotomyia) africanus Newstead, S. (Sergentomyia) antennatus Newstead, S. (Spelacomyia) garnhami Heisch, Giggisberg and Teedale, S. (Rondanomyia) ingrami Newstead, and S. (Sergentomyia) schwetzi Adler, Theodor and Parrot, collected in the field in Kenya or reared in the laboratory. The patterns showed both quantitative and qualitative differences among species. Discriminant analysis of easily, identified peaks (expressed as percentages of total peak area) confirmed the uniqueness of the pattern for each species. Species identifications of field-collected flies revealed an excellent correspondence between morphometric criteria and gas chromatography for all species, except P. duboscqi. These results indicated that the morphological criteria for the identification of P. duboscqi should be reexamined. Chromatograms of females and males showed slight quantitative differences.
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Database assignments for author(s): Ahmed Hassanali

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phlebotomus duboscqi		Kenya
	Phlebotomus aculeatus		Kenya
	Phlebotomus martini		Kenya
	Phlebotomus pedifer		Kenya
	Sergentomyia africana		Kenya
	Sergentomyia antennata		Kenya
	Sergentomyia garnhami		Kenya
	Sergentomyia ingrami		Kenya
	Sergentomyia schwetzi		Kenya