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On the vertical distribution of Phlebotomine sandflies (Dipt., Psychodidae) in British Honduras (Belize)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Paul Williams
Paul Williams
Affiliation:
Dermal Leishmaniasis Research Unit, Central Farm, Baking Pot, Cayo District, British Honduras (Belize), Central America
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Extract

Phlebotomine sandflies were collected simultaneously at ground level, 25 ft and 40 ft in an area of medium bush in British Honduras (Belize).

Flies were captured on human bait, with rat-baited oil-traps and with miniature light-traps, and some resting individuals were collected at each level. One species of Brumptomyia França and 18 of Lutzomyia França & Parrot were obtained. Brief notes on some of these species are given.

Miniature light-traps provided the widest range of species, were the most satisfactory means for collecting Brumptomyia, L. steatopyga (Fairchild & Hertig) and L. carpenteri (Fairchild & Hertig), and yielded new information on the flight activities of L. deleoni (Fairchild & Hertig) and L. panamensis (Shannon).

Most species collected were found to be predominantly arboreal in habit, L. permira (Fairchild & Hertig) and Lutzomyia sp. P being almost exclusively so. Some species (L. panamensis, possibly L. geniculata (Mangabeira) and L. bispinosa (Fairchild & Hertig)) live amongst the foliage but descend to the forest floor to seek blood-meals. A few species (L. steatopyga, L. deleoni and L. olmeca (Vargas & Díaz Nájera)) are active mainly near the ground, though the occasional specimen may be carried much higher.

L. olmeca is the principal vector of rodent leishmaniasis in British Honduras. In the present study, no evidence was obtained to incriminate any other species of Phlebotomine as an insect host for Leishmania mexicana, and the mode of transmission of the parasite to man remains obscure.

Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , April 1970 , pp. 637 - 646
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1970

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