Lutzomyia Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Middle and Lower Putumayo Department, Colombia, with New Records to the Country
Vol. 95(5): 633-639, 2000
Mauricio Barreto+, María Elena Burbano, Pablo Barreto
Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Salud, Universidad del Valle, A.A. 25360, Cali, Valle, Colombia
A total of 4,840 phlebotomine sand flies from 54 localities in Putumayo department (=state), in the Colombian Amazon region, were collected in Shannon traps, CDC light traps, resting places and from human baits. At least 42 Lutzomyia species were registered for the first time to the department. Psychodopygus and Nyssomyia were the subgenera with the greatest number of taxa, the most common species being L. (N.) yuilli and L. (N.) pajoti. They were sympatric in a wide zone of Putumayo, indicating that they should be treated as full species (new status). Among the anthropophilic sand flies, L. gomezi and L. yuilli were found in intradomiciliar, peridomestic, urban or forest habitats. L. richardwardi, L. claustrei, L. nocticola and L. micropyga are reported for the first time in the Colombian Amazon basin. L. pajoti, L. sipani and L. yucumensis are new records for Colombia.
Key words: Lutzomyia - Lutzomyia yuilli - Lutzomyia pajoti - Amazon region - distribution - male anomaly - Colombia
Putumayo department (25,700 km2) is located in the south of the Republic of Colombia, at the foothills of the Andes, in the Amazon region. Based on geography and ecology, Putumayo is divided in higher, middle and lower elevations. Only four of the 13 municipalities (counties) are located between 2,000 and 3,500 m a.s.l., in the higher Putumayo. This area represents about 5% of the total territory of the state, and contains about 10% of the total human population. Most of the 250,000 inhabitants live in the middle Putumayo (82%), which has an average altitude of 600 m. The lower Putumayo, with an average altitude of 260 m, is the largest in area (52%) but has the smallest human population. Following Holdridge's classification, based on climate and vegetation, Espinal (1977, 1989) recognized two main transitional life zones in the middle and lower Putumayo, a Tropical Wet Forest/Tropical Moist Forest, which occupies the most extensive area, and a Premontane Wet Forest/Tropical Wet Forest, around Mocoa, the capital of the state. Human cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis have been reported in the middle and lower Putumayo (Werner & Barreto 1981). Grimaldi et al. (1989) identified Leishmania braziliensis Viannia from there. Corredor et al. (1990) identified Le. braziliensis and Le. guyannensis Floch from the neighboring states of Caquetá and Amazonas. In 1992, 43 new cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis were reported from Putumayo; it was declared as a state of middle risk for the disease, with an incidence rate of 23.9 for 100 thousand inhabitants. The incidence rate for all of Colombia the same year was 16.5 (Ministerio de Salud 1994).
Approximately 30% of the 1,14 million km2 of Colombia comprise the Amazon region; Putumayo and five other states are completely within this area. Only 38 Lutzomyia species were registered for this region in Young's review of bloodsucking psychodid flies of Colombia. With the contributions of Morales and Minter (1981), Young and Arias (1984), Young and Morales (1987), Young and Duncan (1994), and Ferro et al. (1996) this number has been increased to at least 63. The states of Caquetá and Amazonas had most of the records, with 46 and 32 species, respectively; Guaviare, two species; and none for Guainía nor Vaupés. No published records from Putumayo were found. As a part of an initial survey on insect disease vectors from Putumayo, we collected phlebotomine sand flies to determine the species composition at various sites below 700 m.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Field work was made possible due to the collaboration and support of the Dirección Departamental de Salud of Putumayo; especially William O Galarza former Director, field assistants Holmes Erazo, Remigio Solarte, Luis Alberto Rodríguez, Neftalí Burgos, the late Marcos Pérez, and social communicator Nancy Sánchez. To David G Young for help in the identification of some species and suggestions on an early version of the manuscript.
Fig. | Table I | Table II | Table II (Cont.)
+Corresponding author. Fax: (90572) 5542468. E-mail: mbarreto@mafalda.univalle.edu.co.
Received 29 October 1999
Accepted 9 February 2000
Home | Current and Past Issues | News and Events | Instructions to Authors | Editorial Board
Vol 95(5) - Contents | Editorial Office | Subscription | User Registration | PDF | Links | E-mail