Journal of Vector Ecology (2013) 38, 307-316

Marcos Paulo Gomes Pinheiro, José Hilário Tavares Silva, Katrine Bezerra Cavalcanti, Paulo Roberto Medeiros de Azevedo and Maria de Fátima Freire de Melo Ximenes (2013)
Ecological interactions among phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an agroforestry environment of northeast Brazil
Journal of Vector Ecology 38 (2), 307-316
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.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Lutzomyia longipalpis		Brazil (NE)
	Lutzomyia shannoni		Brazil (NE)
	Lutzomyia whitmani		Brazil (NE)
	Lutzomyia intermedia		Brazil (NE)
	Lutzomyia evandroi		Brazil (NE)
	Lutzomyia walkeri		Brazil (NE)
	Lutzomyia sordellii		Brazil (NE)
	Lutzomyia wellcomei		Brazil (NE)