List of species in the genus Lutzomyia, França, 1924 (Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) from the State of Mato Grosso

Lista das espécies do gênero Lutzomyia, França, 1924 (Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) do Estado de Mato Grosso

ARTICLE ARTIGO

List of species in the genus Lutzomyia, França, 1924 (Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) from the State of Mato Grosso

Lista das espécies do gênero Lutzomyia, França, 1924 (Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) do Estado de Mato Grosso

Nanci Akemi Missawa; Giovana Belem Moreira Lima Maciel

Laboratório de Entomologia/Gerência de Vigilância de Vetores e Antropozoonoses/Coordenadoria de Vigilância em Saúde Ambiental/Superintendência de Vigilância em Saúde/Secretaria Estadual de Saúde de Mato Grosso. Cuiabá, MT

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ABSTRACT

This work had the objective of listing the sand fly species that occur in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Data relating to entomological surveys conducted between 1996 and 2004 were obtained from the National Health Foundation and the State Health Department, and this was supplemented with information from research carried out in the state and from the specialized literature. There were records of 106 sand fly species belonging to the genus Lutzomyia. This is a rich and diversified fauna, with some species restricted to forested areas and others recorded throughout the state, independent of the vegetation type, and in areas modified by human action, with predominance of Lutzomyia whitmani.

Key-words: Lutzomyia. Sand fly fauna. Mato Grosso.

RESUMO

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo listar as espécies de flebotomíneos que ocorrem no Estado de Mato Grosso, Brasil. Os dados foram obtidos junto à Fundação Nacional de Saúde e à Secretaria Estadual de Saúde, referente às pesquisas entomológicas desenvolvidas entre 1996 e 2004, complementadas com informações de pesquisas desenvolvidas no Estado e bibliografia especializada. Foram registradas 106 espécies de flebotomíneos pertencentes ao gênero Lutzomyia. Esta é uma rica e diversificada fauna, com algumas espécies restritas a áreas florestais e outras registradas em todo o Estado, independente da formação vegetal e em áreas modificadas pela ação antrópica, com predominância de Lutzomyia whitmani.

Palavras-chaves: Lutzomyia. Fauna de flebotomíneos. Mato Grosso.

Among the entomological research carried out in the State of Mato Grosso, Aguiar and Medeiros¹ presented a list of sand flies; De Luca et al⁵ studied the distribution of sand flies in Alta Floresta, in the northern region of the state; Costa et al⁴ and Rodrigues et al¹³ developed entomological domestication studies in the mid-northern and mid-southern regions; Ribeiro and Missawa¹² described the spatial distribution of sand flies in the state, with emphasis on the species related to leishmaniasis transmission; Azevedo et al² identified 26 sand fly species in Peixoto de Azevedo, in the northern region of the state; Moura⁹ developed an epidemiological survey on canine leishmaniasis in Cuiabá; Ribeiro et al¹¹ carried out a study on leishmaniasis vectors in the area influenced by the Manso power station; Ribeiro and Missawa^{11 12} investigated the occurrence of Lutzomyia longipalpis in the city of Várzea Grande; and Cipa³ dealt with the state as a whole.

Studies on the geographic regions where sand flies occur contribute towards better comprehension of the epidemiological aspects of leishmaniasis. The present study had the objective of listing the sand flies species that occur in the State of Mato Grosso.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The State of Mato Grosso is situated in the central-western region of Brazil, with an area of 903,358 square kilometers, and it has 2,803,274 inhabitants⁷. Mato Grosso forms the watershed between the Plate and Amazon Basins, the two biggest hydrographic basins on the continent and it contains three of the most important Brazilian vegetation zones: the Amazon forest, the savanna and the Pantanal marshland. The annual rainfall distribution shows the tropical character of the area, with two well-defined seasons: one dry and the other wet⁷.

Mato Grosso is considered to be the biggest agricultural expansion frontier in Brazil. Over the last few years it has defined the process of internal development in Brazil. The occupation of economic space, in terms of both the migrants becoming established as smallholders in settlement projects and the big agricultural and pastoral companies, has consolidated the position of Mato Grosso as the Agricultural State⁷.

The present study consists of a report on species of the genus Lutzomyia that occur in the State of Mato Grosso. The data were mainly obtained from the National Health Foundation’s Regional Coordination Office for Mato Grosso (FUNASA/CORE/MT) and from the Entomology Laboratory of the Vector and Anthropozoonosis Surveillance Directorate, Environmental Health Surveillance Coordination Office, Health Surveillance Superintendency, State Health Department (SES/MT). These data related to an entomological survey that was developed between 1996 and 2004, as identified by Young and Duncan¹⁵, and were supplemented with information from studies carried out in the state and from the specialized literature.

RESULTS

The research that was carried out recorded 106 sand fly species belonging to the genus Lutzomyia. These were distributed in the following subgenera: Evandromyia (5), Lutzomyia (12), Micropygomyia (2), Nyssomyia (11), Pintomyia (3), Pressatia (3), Psathyromyia (8), Psychodopygus (15), Sciopemyia (3), Trichophoromyia (6), Trichopygomyia (3) and Viannamyia (2); and in the groups: Aragaoi (6), Baityi (1), Dreisbachi (2), Migonei (12), Oswaldoi (6), Saulensis (2) and Verrucarum (2); plus two species without a defined group, as shown in Table 1.

The entomological survey carried out by FUNASA and SES/MT listed, among other species: L. amazonensis, L. andersoni, L. auraensis, L. brisolai, L. chagasi, L. choti, L. christenseni, L. clitella, L. corumbaensis, L. cruciata, L. dasymera, L. dreisbachi, L. dubitans, L. dysponeta, L. fischeri, L. goiana, L. hirsuta nicaraguensis, L. howardi, L. inflata, L. intermedia, L. longispina, L. microps, L. olmeca bicolor, L. ruii, L. servulolimai and L. termitophila.

Aguiar and Medeiros¹ published a list of sand flies from the central-western region consisting of 98 species, among which: L. baityi, L. bispinosa, L. coutinhoi, L. damascenoi, L. evangelistai, L. falcata, L. flabellata, L. geniculata, L. gomezi, L. guyanensis, L. lichyi, L. marinkellei, L. oliveirai, L. pusilla, L. richardwardi and L. sherlocki.

Azevedo et al² identified L. spathotrichia and others in the state, and Moura⁹ observed L. olmeca nociva in Cuiabá.

In the present study, all the species listed in Table 1 were observed in the Amazon forest area, except for L. brisolai, L. corumbaensis, L. dasymera and L. dysponeta.

The species that occurred in the forest area were: L. baityi, L. bispinosa, L. campbelli, L. coutinhoi, L. damascenoi, L. evangelistai, L. falcata, L. flabellata, L. geniculata, L. gomezi, L. guyanensis, L. hirsuta hirsuta, L. hirsuta nicaraguensis, L. lichyi, L. marinkellei, L. monstruosa, L. octavioi, L. oliveirai, L. pusilla, L. richardwardi, L. sherlocki and L. spathotrichia.

The species that were observed in the Amazon forest, transition area, savanna and Pantanal were: L. acanthopharynx, L. amazonensis, L. andersoni, L. antunesi, L. aragaoi, L. auraensis, L. carmelinoi, L. christenseni, L. cruzi, L. davisi, L. dendrophyla, L. dubitans, L. evandroi, L. flaviscutellata, L. goiana, L. hermanlenti, L. lenti, L. longipalpis, L. longipennis, L. longispina, L. lutziana, L. migonei, L. nevesi, L. punctigeniculata, L. quinquefer, L. runoides, L. sallesi, L. saulensis, L. scaffi, L. shannoni, L. sordellii, L. teratodes, L. termitophila, L. walkeri and L. whitmani.

DISCUSSION

The great diversity of sand fly fauna observed in Mato Grosso must be due to the presence of different types of vegetation, with areas of Amazon forest in the northern region of the state, savanna in the central and mid-southern regions, and vast transition areas between forest, savanna and marshland in the southern extremity of the state.

Aguiar and Medeiros¹ argued that although species like L. cortelezzii, L. missionensis, L. monticola and L. pessoai occurred in the central-western region of Brazil, they were not found in Mato Grosso. They also highlighted the absence of L. microps from the region. Lutzomyia ubiquitalis was demonstrated in the state, in forest, transition and savanna area. This species was described as having a regional distribution in the Brazilian Amazon region according to these authors. Lutzomyia runoides was captured in different types of vegetation in the state, thus decreasing the discontinuity between the State of Rondônia and the southeastern region of the country, where it was recorded and classified as having discontinuous distribution.

Among the endemic species in the northern region¹, the following have been captured in Mato Grosso: L. auraensis, L. begonae, L. chagasi, L. dasymera, L. dreisbachi, L. dubitans, L. inflata, L. llanosmartinsi, L. olmeca bicolor, L. paraensis, L. ruii, L. servulolimai, L. shawi, L. spathotrichia and L. wilsoni.

The species listed in Mato Grosso that have been implicated as or suspected of being capable of transmitting Leishmania to humans and animals in Brazil are: L. ayrozai, L. flaviscutellata, L. longipalpis, L. paraensis, L. ubiquitalis, L. whitmani^{1 8 15}, L. anduzei, L. antunesi, L. umbratilis^{1 15}, L. cruzi, L. intermedia^{1 8}, L. carrerai carrerai, L complexa, L. yuilli yuilli⁸, L. gomezi, L. migonei, L. olmeca bicolor, L. olmeca nociva and L. tuberculata¹.

The local fauna was partially described by Ribeiro and Missawa¹², who observed 88 sand fly species. The diversity is characterized by an overlapping of vector fauna and probably of the etiological agents for leishmaniasis, with the respective reservoirs in neighboring states, since Mato Grosso is situated in the central-western region of Brazil. Thus, connections with the northern, northeastern, southeastern and southern regions of the country are established, and these connections have great epidemiological importance.

This is a rich and diversified fauna, with some species restricted to the forested areas, while others are recorded all over the state, independent of the vegetation zone, and in areas modified by human action.

The visceral leishmaniasis vector, L. longipalpis, is a very eclectic species in relation to its dietary habits, with high ecological valence. It can therefore adapt to environments with diverse characteristics and inhabit ecosystems going from hostile dry regions to areas modified by human action⁶, and from coastal regions to exposed locations¹⁰. L. cruzi, which has been implicated as vector for Leishmania chagasi in Mato Grosso do Sul^{8 14}, with widespread distribution across the state.

The species L. whitmani, which presents widespread uniform distribution in the state and has been recorded both within and around homes, is probably the best-adapted species^{12 13}. L. antunesi is prevalent in the forest canopy². L. migonei is found in wetter areas⁶ and is a species found in all five regions of Brazil¹. It has been observed in Mato Grosso, in areas with all types of vegetation. L. flaviscutellata has been recorded in these same areas and, although it is considered extremely wild, it has moved into areas around and inside homes, thus indicating differentiated behavior, as observed by Rebêlo et al¹⁰.

Lutzomyia intermedia is considered to be the most important vector for cutaneous leishmaniasis in southeastern Brazil and it occurs in the states neighboring Mato Grosso, such as Tocantins, Goiás, Federal District and Mato Grosso do Sul¹. L. ayrozai is predominantly found in areas around homes and in areas adjacent to forests⁶. It occurs in all of the vegetation types in Mato Grosso, excepted in the marshland.

According to Aguiar and Medeiros¹, L. carrerai carrerai and L. yuilli yuilli occurs in all of the Brazilian regions, except for the southern region, while L. anduzei is found in the northern, northeastern and central-western regions. These species present distribution in all the vegetation types, with exception of marshland. L. gomezi has the same occurrence as L. anduzei and has been observed exclusively in forest areas, while L. tuberculata is in forest and savanna.

The species L. complexa, L. olmeca bicolor, L. olmeca nociva, L. ubiquitalis and L. umbratilis are important vectors in the Amazon region, occurring in forest, transition and savanna areas, except for L. olmeca nociva, which has only been observed in the savanna.

We can communicate that this is the first record of L. clitella in Brazil, and the specimen is stored at the International Phlebotomine Reference Center at the René Rachou Research Center, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, in Belo Horizonte city, Brazil.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to the technicians at the Entomology Laboratory (FUNASA and SES/MT) for the information and good working relationships while preparing the present work.

Recebido para publicação em 8/5/2006

Aceito em 2/1/2007

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• 2. Azevedo ACR, Souza NA, Meneses CRV, Costa WA, Lima JB, Rangel EF. Ecology of sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) in the north of State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 97: 459-464, 2002.
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• 10. Rebêlo JM, Araújo J, Carvalho M, Oliveira ST, Silva FS. Flebótomos (Diptera, Phlebotominae) da ilha de São Luis, zona do Golfão Maranhense, Brasil. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical 32:247-253, 1999.
• 11. Ribeiro ALM, Missawa NA. Ocorrência de Flebotomíneos no Município de Várzea Grande/ Mato Grosso, no período de abril a setembro de 2001. Simpósio Amazônia e Ambiente. Cuiabá/MT, 2002a.
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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  18 Apr 2007
• Date of issue
  Feb 2007

History

• Received
  08 May 2006
• Accepted
  02 Jan 2007