Abstract
Phlebotomine sandflies are important vectors of Leishmania spp. and phleboviruses causing disease in animals and humans. Morphological identification of phlebotomine sandflies to the species level is challenging, requiring microscopical examination of the genitalia, which is demanding and time consuming. Molecular sandfly species identification can be a practical solution to save resources since it enables further molecular studies capable of generating data, such as biting preferences by blood meal analysis. In this study, resorting to a sandfly dataset collected between 2014 and 2018 across Portuguese territory under active mosquito surveillance and sandfly specific surveys, we used molecular methods to explore the genetic diversity and spatial distribution, further exploring ecological co-variants of four sandfly species—Phlebotomus ariasi, P. perniciosus, P. sergenti, and Sergentomyia minuta—all of which are of public health importance. Sandflies were collected from Spring to Autumn (May–November) following local temperature patterns. P. perniciosus was the most widespread detected species, with a nationwide distribution. All studied species clustered together with known samples from the Iberian Peninsula. Further monitoring studies of sandfly species diversity, distribution, and seasonality are essential for surveillance and control of sandfly-borne pathogens both nationally and globally.
Highlights
Phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae, and Phlebotominae) are small insects that can be found across the globe
Molecular analysis of COX1 gene allowed the identification of 33 P. ariasi, 124 P. perniciosus, 3 P. sergenti, and 13 S. minuta
Analysis of partial DNA sequences from the COX1 gene obtained from sandflies collected from 2014 to 2018 showed that the number of polymorphic sites and parsimony informative sites was low for all species, reinforcing the high level of intra-specific conservation and the potential of the analysed gene region as bar coding
Summary
Phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae, and Phlebotominae) are small insects that can be found across the globe. They pose a threat from a public health point of view, since they serve as vectors of several human and animal pathogens, the most important of which are the parasites of the Leishmania genus (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). In Portugal, visceral (VL) and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Leishmania infantum are endemic, with most reported cases being related to VL. This disease has so far been predominantly detected in children, but since the 1990s most cases are reported in HIV-infected adults [2]. The phlebotomine species associated with Leishmania transmission in Portugal are Phlebotomus perniciosus and P. ariasi [9]
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