Biomaterial Database

Sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from caves of the quartzite Espinhaço Range, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 2012

Ricardo Andrade Barata, and Estefânia Conceição Apolinário

Laboratório de Parasitologia, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Diamantina, MG, Brasil. ricbarata@hotmail.com

This study investigated the sandfly fauna of two quartzite caves in the Espinhaço Mountain Range, located in the municipality of Diamantina, state Minas Gerais. From August 2010-July 2011, entomological sampling was performed in the caves of Salitre and Monte Cristo with two HP light traps exposed in the photic and aphotic zones of each cave. The sandfly fauna consisted of 17 species, among which Lutzomyia cipoensis was predominant (54.76%). The male/female ratio in the total captures was 1:2.5. The aphotic zone showed the highest frequency of specimens captured (65%). A greater density of sandflies occurred during the summer (January-February), coinciding with the period of higher temperatures, humidity and rainfall. The presence of Lutzomyia longipalpis, Lutzomyia whitmani and Lutzomyia pessoai, proven or suspected vectors of leishmaniasis, is of concern because the area is visited by many tourists.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007303	Insect Vectors	Insects that transmit infective organisms from one host to another or from an inanimate reservoir to an animate host.	Insect Vector,Vector, Insect,Vectors, Insect
D008297	Male		Males
D011156	Population Density	Number of individuals in a population relative to space.	Overpopulation,Population Size,Underpopulation,Densities, Population,Density, Population,Population Densities,Population Sizes
D011576	Psychodidae	Small, hairy, moth-like flies which are of considerable public health importance as vectors of certain pathogenic organisms. Important disease-related genera are PHLEBOTOMUS, Lutzomyia, and Sergentomyia.	Lutzomyia,Moth Flies,Phlebotominae,Psychodinae,Sandflies,Sergentomyia,Sand Flies,Flies, Moth,Flies, Sand,Fly, Moth,Fly, Sand,Lutzomyias,Moth Fly,Sand Fly,Sandfly,Sergentomyias
D001938	Brazil	A country located on the eastern coast of South America, located between Colombia and Peru, that borders the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, on the south by Uruguay, and on the west by Argentina. The capital is Brasilia.
D005260	Female		Females
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012621	Seasons	Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Seasonal Variation,Season,Seasonal Variations,Variation, Seasonal,Variations, Seasonal
D012744	Sex Ratio	The number of males per 100 females.	Ratio, Sex,Ratios, Sex,Sex Ratios
D059552	Caves	Geological formations consisting of underground enclosures with access from the surface.	Cave,Cavern,Caverns