Phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a Hydroelectric System Affected Area from Northern Amazonian Brazil: Further Insights into the Effects of Environmental Changes on Vector Ecology.

Nercy Virginia Rabelo Furtado,Viviane Caetano Firmino,Clicia Denis Galardo,Thiago Vasconcelos Dos Santos,Allan Kardec Ribeiro Galardo

doi:10.1155/2016/9819723

Abstract

During 2012–2015, an entomological survey was conducted as part of a phlebotomine (Diptera: Psychodidae) monitoring program in an area influenced by the Santo Antônio do Jari hydroelectric system (Amapá State, Brazil). The purpose was to study aspects of Amazon/Guianan American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) vectors subjected to stresses by anthropogenic environmental changes. For sampling, CDC light traps were positioned 0.5, 1, and 20 m above ground at five capture locations along the Jari River Basin. Fluctuations in phlebotomine numbers were analyzed to determine any correlation with rainfall, dam waterlogging, and/or ACL cases, from May 2012 to March 2015. We captured 2,800 individuals, and among 45 species identified, Bichromomyia flaviscutellata, Nyssomyia umbratilis, and Psychodopygus squamiventris s.l. were determined to be the main putative vectors, based on current knowledge of the Amazon/Guianan ACL scenario. Rainfall, but not complete flooding, was relatively correlated with phlebotomine fluctuation, mainly observed for Ps. squamiventris s.l., as were ACL cases with Ny. umbratilis. Behavioral changes were observed in the unexpected high frequency of Bi. flaviscutellata among CDC captures and the noncanopy dominance of Ny. umbratilis, possibly attributable to environmental stress in the sampled ecotopes. Continuous entomological surveillance is necessary to monitor the outcomes of these findings.

Highlights

Insects of Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae) species are of great medical interest because of their implications in the transmission of some vector-borne diseases, in particular leishmaniasis [1,2,3]
Females of Trichophoromyia and Pressatia, and some unidentified Evandromyia, Nyssomyia, and Psychodopygus species were allocated at generic level (Table 1)
It is important to consider current investigations of phlebotomine fauna in the Jari River Basin in the context of the historical findings from the 1970s and 1980s. These earlier studies represent comprehensive research conducted in Monte Dourado, a region close to the area investigated in the present study and on which the present epidemiological background to American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) transmission in the associated region is based

Summary

Introduction

Insects of Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae) species are of great medical interest because of their implications in the transmission of some vector-borne diseases, in particular leishmaniasis [1,2,3]. The high biodiversity of the region induces a complex mosaic of ecological interactions among reservoirs, vectors, and parasites, and a wide spectrum of ACL clinical manifestations, including disfiguring and potentially life-threatening cases [4]. This diversity of transmission cycles becomes even more complex to understand in the context of the influence of anthropic effects on natural ecological systems. Negative effects of some of the resultant environmental changes have been observed; an example is the disturbance caused by the proliferation of Mansonia (Diptera: Culicidae)

Methods

Results

Conclusion