Fauna flebotomínica (Diptera : Psychodidae) de uma área urbana da mesorregião do agreste pernambucano

Abstract

Sandflies are nocturnal or crepuscular insects, typically of forests; however, due to human activities, habitats of these insects are being modified. Sandflies belonging to the genus Lutzomyia (Diptera: Psychodidae) are dipterous holometábolos, have wide geographical distribution, being represented by various species found in greater abundance in tropical and subtropical regions. These flies have great relevance for public health, because they are involved in the transmission of the causative agents of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (LTA), which are among the tropical diseases most important in Brazil and in many countries around the world. The geographical distribution of Lutzomyia longipalpis, as well as VL in Brazil, are probably related to the changes in ecosystems caused by human predation. This has led to dispersion and adjustment of the natural reservoirs of the parasite and probably the creation of suitable ecotypes and the proliferation of its vector in anthropic environment. This study aimed to identify the different species that make up the sandfly fauna in endemic urban areas to LV in the city of Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil. Sandflies were collected in five urban areas endemic for VL, with the aid of light traps of CDC type. Therefore, 12 traps were installed in intra and peridomicile, from November 2014 to December 2015. We collected in total of 297 sandflies spread over eight species, which were identified as L. lenti, L. longipalpis, L. sallesi, L. migonei, L. walkeri, L. capixaba, L. carmelinoi and L. whitmani. Of these, 175 (58.93%) were female and 122 (41.07%) were male, with a sex ratio of 1: 1.43. L. lenti (51.81%) was the most abundant species, followed by L. longipalpis (29.62%) and L. sallesi (14.14%), which together accounted for more than 90% of the collected sandflies. These three species were only found in all the surveyed neighborhoods. The Alto neighborhoods Moura and New Caruaru showed higher occurrence of sandflies. Of the total captured specimens, 247 (83.16%) were captured near the houses and 50 (16.83%) inside the home. The ecotypes with higher frequency of insects captured were coop and kennel. This study suggests that the constant presence of L. longipalpis, with a predominance of females, including inside the home, can be a warning reason for the city of Caruaru, since the possibility of VL outbreaks, since this species is the main vector of L. infantum in Brazil.