Ecology, Seasonality and Host Preferences of Austrian Phlebotomus (Transphlebotomus) Mascittii Grassi, 1908, Populations

Abstract

Background: Sand flies are principal vectors of the protozoan parasites Leishmania spp., widely distributed in all warmer regions of the world, including the Mediterranean parts of Europe. In Central European countries, the sand fly fauna is still understudied. Phlebotomus mascittii, a suspected but unproven vector of Leishmania infantum, is regarded as the most widely distributed species in Europe. However, many aspects of its biology and ecology remain poorly known. The aim of this study was to provide new data on Ph. mascittii biology and ecology in Austria to better understand its current distribution and potential dispersal.Methods: Sand fly trappings were conducted at four different locations in Austria for eleven and fifteen weeks during the active period in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Climatic parameters including temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure and wind speed were retrospectively obtained for the trapping periods and blood meals of engorged females were analysed by DNA sequencing and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.Results: In total, 450 individuals of Ph. mascittii were caught. Activity was observed to start at the beginning of June and end at the end of August with peaks in mid-July at three locations and early August at one location. Increasing activity was associated with relatively high temperatures and humidity. Also, more individuals were caught in nights with low barometric pressure. Five identified blood meals revealed three times chicken (Gallus gallus) and twice equines (Equus spp.) as hosts. Sand fly abundance was generally associated with availability of hosts.Conclusion: This study reports an unexpectedly high abundance of Ph. mascittii at studied Austrian localities and provides the first detailed analysis of its ecology to date. Temperature and humidity were shown to be good predictors for sand fly activity. Blood meal analyses support the assumption that Ph. mascittii feeds on mammals as well as birds. The study significantly contributes to understanding the ecology of this sand fly species in Central Europe and facilitates prospective entomological surveys.

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) of the Maghreb region: A systematic review of distribution, morphology, and role in the transmission of the pathogens

“…infantum due to circumstantial findings of parasite DNA by PCR screening [ 106 ]. This species (Figs 45 and 46 ) exhibits a wide distribution in Europe that extends the usual Mediterranean regions to the north up to Austria, Germany, and Slovakia [ 107 – 109 ]. In the Maghreb region, its presence was recorded by a sole finding of 1 female in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria ( Fig 47 ) in the humid bioclimatic zone [ 32 ].…”

First Findings and Molecular Data of Phlebotomus mascittii (Diptera: Psychodidae) in the Cantabrian Cornice (Northern Spain)

“…All specimens were morphologically identified to the species level. However, most females had hardly visible spermathecae, which made morphological discrimination tricky, as noted by Kniha et al (2020). This issue might have contributed to the species being underreported.…”

“…This issue might have contributed to the species being underreported. It is therefore advisable to observe the spermathecae under different wavelengths of light (Kniha et al, 2020) or dissect the abdomen, extract the spermathecae and add a staining medium. Besides, the use of the COI genetic marker for species identification confirmation has become more widely used (Praprotnik et al, 2019;Kniha et al, 2020).…”

Sand fly fauna of South-Eastern Romania, with the description of Phlebotomus (Transphlebotomus) simonahalepae n. sp. (Diptera: Psychodidae)

“…simonahalepae n. sp. does not overlap with any of these species [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Despite repeated efforts to sample more specimens, no other individual from the newly described species was captured (authors' unpublished data).…”

“…Fig. 6 The currently known distribution areas of species of subgenus Transphlebotomus [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] anatolicus by the number of prolongations of the knob of the spermathecae (9 vs. 10-12), the presence of the neck as well as morphometry of the head structures [10]; from Ph. mascittii the morphological differences refer to the aspect of the knob of the spermathecae, number of prolongations (9 vs. 10-12), and the presence of the neck and the size of labrum [9]; from Ph.…”