Journal of Medical Entomology (2011) 48, 154-166

David A. Florin, Stephen J. Davies, Cara Olsen, Phillip Lawyer, Robert Lipnick, George Schultz, Edgar Rowton, Richard Wilkerson and Lisa Keep (2011)
Morphometric and molecular analyses of the sand fly species Lutzomyia shannoni (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) collected from seven different geographical areas in the southeastern United States
Journal of Medical Entomology 48 (2), 154-166
Abstract: A morphometric and molecular study of adult male and female Lutzomyia shannoni (Dyar 1929) collected at seven different locations within the southeastern United States was conducted to assess the degree of divergence between the grouped specimens from each location. The collection locations were as follows: Fort Bragg, NC; Fort Campbell, KY; Fort Rucker, AL; Ossabaw Island, GA; Patuxent National Wildlife Research Refuge, MD; Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, FL; and Baton Rouge, LA. Forty males and forty females from each location were analyzed morphometrically from 54 and 49 character measurements, respectively. In addition, the molecular markers consisting of the partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (from 105 sand flies: 15 specimens/collection site) and the partial internal transcribed spacer 2 (from 42 sand flies: six specimens/collection site) were compared. Multivariate analyses indicate that the low degree of variation between the grouped specimens from each collection site prevents the separation of any collection site into an entity that could be interpreted as a distinct population. The molecular analyses were in concordance with the morphometric study as no collection location grouped into a separate population based on the two partial markers. The grouped specimens from each collection site appear to be within the normal variance of the species, indicating a single population in the southeast United States. It is recommended that additional character analyses of L. shannoni based on more molecular markers, behavioral, ecological, and physiological characteristics, be conducted before ruling out the possibility of populations or a cryptic species complex within the southeastern United States.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): David A. Florin, Edgar D. Rowton, Richard C. Wilkerson

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Lutzomyia shannoni		U.S.A. (NE)
	Lutzomyia shannoni		U.S.A. (SE)