Attractiveness of black and white modified Shannon traps to phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae) in the Brazilian Amazon Basin, an area of intense transmission of American cutaneous leishmaniasis

Abstract

In the Amazon region the phlebotomine fauna is considered one of the most diverse in the world. The use of Shannon traps may provide information on the anthropophily of the species and improve the traps’ performance in terms of diversity and quantity of insects collected when white and black colored traps are used together. This study sought to verify the attractiveness of the traps to the phlebotomine species of the Brazilian Amazon basin using Shannon traps under these conditions. The insects were collected using two Shannon traps installed side by side, one white and the other black, in a primary forest area of the municipality of Xapuri, Acre, Brazil. Samples were collected once a month during the period August 2013 to July 2015. A sample of females was dissected to test for natural infection by flagellates. A total of 6,309 (864 males and 5,445 females) specimens (36 species) were collected. Psychodopygus carrerai carrerai (42%), Nyssomyia shawi (36%), and Psychodopygus davisi (13%), together represented 90% of the insects collected. Nyssomyia shawi and Psychodopygus davisi were more attracted by the white color. Specimens of Nyssomyia shawi, Nyssomyia whitmani, and Psychodopygus hirsutus hirsutus were found naturally infected by flagellates in the mid and hindgut. This is the first study in Acre state using and comparing both black and white Shannon traps, demonstrating the richness, diversity, and anthropophilic behavior of the phlebotomine species and identifying proven and putative vectors of the etiological agents of leishmaniasis.

An overview of the sandfly fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) followed by the detection of Leishmania DNA and blood meal identification in the state of Acre, Amazonian Brazil

“…Of a total of 4,473 captured specimens, the dominance of species from Nyssomyia and Psychodopygus genera (76.4% of the captures) is consistent with previous studies carried out in Acre. (7,(24)(25)(26)(27) Both the genera are the most medically important in the New World, represent the most abundant species and concentrate several vector species of Leishmania, including the most important vectors incriminated in the transmission cycle of CL in the Amazon Region. (3,24,28) Here, the most frequent species were Ny.…”

Ecological aspects of Phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) and the transmission of American cutaneous leishmaniasis agents in an Amazonian/ Guianan bordering area

“…Phlebotomines were obtained by surveying a horizontal transect from the edge inside each sampling site’s forested area, using a multi-trapping approach described elsewhere [ 8 ]. The approach comprised captures using CDC light traps ( John W. Hock Company , Gainesville, USA ) set up from 6:00 h to 18:00 h at 1.5 m (ground level; n = 8 traps/night) and at 20 m (canopy level; n = 2 traps/night), captures from 6:00 h to 20:00 h with modified Shannon black and white colored cloth [ 19 ], and manual aspiration on tree bases from 6:00 h to 20:00 h.…”

First report of an Onchocercidae worm infecting Psychodopygus carrerai carrerai sandfly, a putative vector of Leishmania braziliensis in the Amazon

“…1 and Supplementary video). Ecological analyses of the phlebotomine fauna have been published elsewhere 23 .…”

“…carrerai carrerai females were found parasitized with a filarial larval form, whose infection is here reported. Xapuri is a municipality located in Acre State, Brazil, and it is an area of high prevalence of ACL with a high diversity of sandflies species 22,23 . There is no record of parasitic diseases caused by filarids in the municipality of Xapuri.…”