Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) of the province of Chaco, Argentina

SCIENTIFIC NOTE

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) of the province of Chaco, Argentina

Juan R Rosa^I; Oscar D Salomon^II; José D Andrade Filho^III; Gustavo M L Carvalho^III; Enrique A Szelag^I; Marina Stein^I; Eliana S Tapia^I; Reginaldo P Brazil^IV

^IInstituto de Medicina Regional, Univ Nacional del Nordeste, Av Las Heras 727, CP 3500, Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina; [e-mail]; [e-mail]; [e-mail]

^IICentro Nacional de Diagnóstico e Investigación en Endemo-Epidemias-ANLIS, Av Paseo Colón 568, Buenos Aires, Argentina; [e-mail]

^IIILab de Leishmanioses, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou-Fiocruz, Av Augusto de Lima 1715, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil; [e-mail]

^IVLab de Bioquímica e Fisiologia de Insetos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Av Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil; [e-mail]

ABSTRACT

The phlebotomine sandflies of the province of Chaco, Argentina, are poorly known, with reports from more than 40 years or captures related with outbreaks of leishmaniasis. In here, Mycropygomyia peresi (Mangabeira) is reported for the first time in Argentina, extending the known dstribution of Migonemyia migonei (França), Evandromyia sallesi (Galvão & Coutinho), Mycropygomyia quinquefer (Dyar), Brumptomyia brumpti (Larousse) y Nemapalpus spp to the province of Chaco. Mg. migonei, together with Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto), Evandromyia cortelezzii (Brèthes), and Psathyromyia shannoni (Dyar) also captured in Chaco, were incriminated as vectors of Leishmania in Argentina.

Key words: Leishmaniasis, Migonemyia migonei, Evandromyia sallesi, Mycropygomyia quinquefer, Mycropygomyia peresi

American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) was first recorded in Argentina 1916-1917. Current epidemic outbreaks of ACL have taken place in nine northern Argentinean provinces, and extended from the northern border through the Yungas, Chaco and Paranaense biological regions (Salomón et al 2008a). In 2006 the first VL autochthonous proved case was reported in the country in the Paranaense region, but close to the Chaco (Salomon et al 2008b). However, the sand flies of the Chaco province are poorly known, mainly from captures made before the '60s or perfomed during ACL outbreaks, where Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto), Evandromyia cortelezzii (Brèthes), Psathyromyia shannoni (Dyar), and Sciopemyia sordellii (Shannoni & Del Pont) were reported (Bejarano 1959, Salomon et al 2002, 2005).

The Chaco province of Argentina belongs to the South American bioregion of Chaco. It has a subtropical climate, an average annual temperature of 21.5ºC and an annual maximum rainfall of 1,200 mm in the eastern Parana-Paraguay river basin, decreasing to 500 mm p.a. toward the west. The isohyetal 900 mm line divides the Chacoan landscape into two regions: the Eastern (wet) and the Western (dry) districts (Dudiuk & Rosegarten 1997). The Wet Chaco has an Atlantic rainfall regime (peaks in summer and autumm), with savannahs and woods in patches of Schinopsis balansae, and Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco. The Dry Chaco has a continental rainfall regime (peak in summer), a dry period up to six months (winter), and a semi-arid landscape with xerophytic woods of Schinopsis lorentzii, A. quebracho-blanco/Prosopis nigra, S. lorentzii, and Bulnesia sarmientoi, sparsed between thorn bushes (Cabrera 1971).

The sand fly captures were performed with CDC light traps operating from 19:00h to 7:00h within the secondary forest-peridomestic ecotone, twice a month at the Wet Chaco stations of Margarita Belén (27º10'S; 58º50'W) and Resistencia (27º26'S; 58º54'W), from June 2001 to September 2003, and monthly in the Dry Chaco station Misión Nueva Pompeya (24º55'S, 61º30'W) from October 2006 to September 2007. Additional traps were located inside the human domiciles and hen-houses, in lamb-pens (Misión Nueva Pompeya), and cattle-sheds (Resistencia-November 2004 to October 2006). In all suveyed sites the deforestation and anthropic activity were evident.

Sand flies were preserved in 70% ethanol, mounted according to Forattini (1973) and identified in accordance to Young & Duncan (1994), Andrade Filho et al (2003) and Galati (2003a), the genera abbreviations were used as suggested by Marcondes (2007).

A total of 4,226 phlebotomine sand flies belonging to eight species were captured (Table 1). The genera Brumptomyia and Nemapalpus, and the species Migonemyia migonei (França), Evandromyia sallesi (Galvão & Coutinho), Mycropygomyia quinquefer (Dyar), Mycropygomyia peresi (Mangabeira) were recorded for the first time in this province.

Migonemyia migonei was found in the Dry an in the Wet Chaco districts, but in the former it was the prevalent species even in the captures of domicile. In Brazil it has been found naturally infected with L. (V.) braziliensis (Azevedo et al 1990, Pita Pereira et al 2005) and incriminated in the peridomestic cycle of Leishmania transmission (Rangel et al 1986). On the other hand, in the Wet Chaco, the richest in sand fly biodiversity, the prevalent species was Ny. neivai, the suspected vector in Argentina

Evandromyia cortelezzii and Ev. sallesi belong to the complex cortelezzii with indistinguishable females (Galati et al 1989). Distinct males of both species were captured with a similar pattern of distribution by district and ecotope to Mg. migonei, although with less individuals. Evandromyia cortelezzii was found naturally infected by Leishmania infantum in Brazil (Carvalho el al 2008).

Mycropygomyia quinquefer was known to be restricted to the Paranaense region in Argentina (Salomón et al 2008a). We report this species also in the Dry Chaco, associated with peridomicile and forest. Mycropygomyia quinquefer is widely distributed in Brazil in forest-peridomestic ecotones (Andrade Filho et al 2001, Brazil et al 2006, Galati et al 2006). Mycropygomyia peresi was only captured in the Dry Chaco inside houses and in the forest. This is the first report of this species in Argentina and is its southernmost record. It was formerly described in the northeast of Brazil, and in the north and centre of Brazil thereafter (Dias et al 1986), but usually found in wet areas (Andrade Filho et al 2001, Galati et al 1997, 2003b, 2006).

Brumptomyia brumpti and Pa. shannoni were captured only in the Wet Chaco, out of the domicile, consistent with their known peridomestic-forest behaviour.

In conclusion, five new records of phlebotomine sand flies were reported for the Chaco province, Argentina, four in the Dry Chaco (including Mi. peresi new for the country), and three in the Wet Chaco. Therefore, nine Pheblotominae species are known in Chaco, although Sciopemyia sordellii reported in Presidencia Roca was not found during this study. In the Dry Chaco the prevalent species was Mg. migonei, and in the Wet Chaco Ny. neivai followed by Mg. migonei, both incriminated as vectors of ACL leishmaniasis.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr Rubén Romero (Director), Mr Javier Effenberger and Dr Ricardo Sandoval, of the Misión Nueva Pompeya Hospital, for their cooperation during the field work and Mrs Juana Williner, of the Instituto Medicina Regional, UNNE, for her technical support in the laboratory. We also thank to Roemmers Argentinean Foundation for its support.

Received 08/VII/08.

Accepted 08/I/10.

Edited by Neusa Hamada - INPA

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  14 May 2010
• Date of issue
  Apr 2010

History

• Received
  08 July 2008
• Accepted
  10 Jan 2010