Comparison of the phlebotomine (Diptera: Psychodidae) fauna of urban, transitional, and wild areas in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil

BACKGROUND: Phlebotomines are directly related to the study of leishmaniases, and so the study of their distribution plays an important role in the epidemiology of these diseases. Collections of phlebotomines were made with the intent of comparing the distribution, richness, diversity, and abundance of species in three distinct environments in an area endemic for tegumentary and visceral leishmaniasis in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. METHODS: Phlebotomines were collected with automatic light traps in urban, transitional, and wild areas from March 2013 to February 2014 in the district of Barra do Guaicuí, municipality of Várzea da Palma, Minas Gerais. The distribution patterns of these species of insects, as well as species richness, evenness, and abundance among the different areas, were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 3,365 phlebotomines belonging to 15 species were collected. The urban area had the greatest abundance whereas the transitional area had the greatest diversity and evenness of species. Nyssomyia intermedia was the most abundant species in the urban area, whereas Evandromyia evandroi was the most abundant in the transitional area and Ev. lenti in the wild area. CONCLUSION: The analysis of our results showed that the distribution of the collected species had distinct profiles between the environments studied. Furthermore our study indicates the potential risk of transmission of leishmaniasis in the urban environment where it was observed had the highest population density and abundance of important vector species of Leishmania.