Sampling methods for phlebotomine sandflies

Abstract

Abstract. A review is presented of methods for sampling phlebotomine sand¯ies (Diptera: Psychodidae). Among~500 species of Phlebotominae so far described, mostly in the New World genus Lutzomyia and the Old World genus Phlebotomus, about 10% are known vectors of Leishmania parasites or other pathogens. Despite being small and fragile, sand¯ies have a wide geographical range with species occupying a considerable diversity of ecotopes and habitats, from deserts to humid forests, so that suitable methods for collecting them are in¯uenced by environmental conditions where they are sought. Because immature phlebotomines occupy obscure terrestrial habitats, it is dif®cult to ®nd their breeding sites. Therefore, most trapping methods and sampling procedures focus on sand¯y adults, whether resting or active. The diurnal resting sites of adult sand¯ies include tree holes, buttress roots, rock crevices, houses, animal shelters and burrows, from which they may be aspirated directly or trapped after being disturbed. Sand¯ies can be collected during their periods of activity by interception traps, or by using attractants such as bait animals, CO 2 or light. The method of trapping used should: (a) be suited to the habitat and area to be surveyed, (b) take into account the segment of the sand¯y population to be sampled (species, sex and reproduction condition) and (c) yield specimens of appropriate condition for the study objectives (e.g. identi®cation of species present, population genetics or vector implication). Methods for preservation and transportation of sand¯ies to the laboratory also depend on the objectives of a particular study and are described accordingly.

Impact of Phlebotomine Sand Flies on U.S. Military Operations at Tallil Air Base, Iraq: 2. Temporal and Geographic Distribution of Sand Flies

“…Although light traps have been commonly used for the collection of sand ßies (Hilmy et al 1989, Kaul et al 1994, Robert et al 1994, Alexander 2000, Orndorff et al 2002, few studies have compared them to landing and/or biting collections. Alexander (2000) reported that a potential disadvantage of light traps was that they might preferentially sample females of certain species that are highly phototropic and suggested that light traps had limited value in ecological studies of sand ßies.…”

“…Although light traps have been commonly used for the collection of sand ßies (Hilmy et al 1989, Kaul et al 1994, Robert et al 1994, Alexander 2000, Orndorff et al 2002, few studies have compared them to landing and/or biting collections. Alexander (2000) reported that a potential disadvantage of light traps was that they might preferentially sample females of certain species that are highly phototropic and suggested that light traps had limited value in ecological studies of sand ßies. However, Fryauff and Modi (1991) and Davies et al (1995) determined that light trap collections were comparable to biting collections for P. papatasi in Egypt and sand ßies in the Peruvian Andes, respectively, whereas Rioux et al (1982) reported that adhesive traps provided results similar to human bait.…”

“…Somewhat surprisingly, our data clearly demonstrated that there were no differences in sand ßy abundance in four locations in and around two-story townhouses (Table 5). Although we anticipated that there would be no differences in abundance in the three ground level sites in each building, given the sand ßyÕs reputation as a weak ßyer (Alexander 2000), we had expected that numbers would be lower on the roof of the building. Guidance provided by Preventive Medicine personnel in 2003 (when air conditioning was generally not available) suggested that sleeping as high as possible (i.e., on the roof of a house or on top of a truck) could potentially provide some degree of protection from sand ßies.…”

Deltamethrin-impregnated dog collars have a potent anti-feeding and insecticidal effect on Lutzomyia longipalpis and Lutzomyia migonei

“…Sand flies 3-4 days old were used in all experiments, since in preliminary observations, we found that females fed well at that age. On the day of the experiment, female sand flies were counted and transferred using a Castro aspirator (Sherlock & Pessoa 1964, Alexander 2000 into two separate larger plaster-lined pots measuring approximately 1500 cm 3 and kept in styrofoam containers with moist cotton wool to keep the humidity high for transport. The females were transferred into large cubic net cages 10-15 min before the anesthetised dogs were placed inside the nets.…”

Flebotomíneos (Diptera: Psychodidae) coletados com armadilha malaise no Centro-Oeste de Minas Gerais

“…Nessas armadilhas um ou mais frascos contendo líquido fi xador ou vapores tóxicos são acoplados na parte superior, onde os insetos são aprisionados (Alexander 2000).…”