Phlebotomines in the area adjacent to the Porto Primavera dam, between São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul States, Brazil

ABSTRACT

A research project with the purpose of investigating the Culicidae mosquito fauna and Anopheles ecology was undertaken before, during and after the construction of Porto Primavera dam on the Paraná River, between São Paulo (SP) and Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) States, between 1997 and 2003.The objective of this article is to report on the species of sand flies that were also captured during the collections undertaken with Shannon traps and human bait. A total of 526 (430, 96) specimens, 73 (2, 71) with human bait and 453 (94, 359) with Shannon traps were captured, belonging to seven species Bichromomyia flavisculellata (6), Brumptomyia sp. (1), Evandromyia sp. (2),Lutzomyia almerioi (1, 2), Nyssomyia neivai (92, 412), Psathyromyia punctigeniculata (2)and Psathyromyia shannoni (3, 5). Ny. neivai, a probable vector of Leishmania braziliensis, predominated (95.8percent). Bi. flaviscutellata, the main vector of Leishmania amazonensis, is reported here for the first time in the west of SP and Lu. almerioi, an anthropophilic species, was captured forthe first time in SP. Thus more studies are necessary in this region since these three species of sand flies may represent a risk for the transmission of Leishmania spp. to people frequenting the forested banks of this reservoir.