From September 1993 to August 2001, 7,190 phlebotomine were collected with
CDC light trap in an endemic area for human leishmaniasis, in the departments
of Misiones and Itapúa, Paraguay. Eleven species were identified:
Lutzomyia neivai
(93.7%),
L. whitmani
(4.1%), and
L. fischeri
,
L. shannoni
,
L. migonei
,
L. misionensis
,
L. cortelezzii
,
L. pessoai
,
L. alphabetica
,
Brumptomyia avellari
and
B. guimaraesi
(less than 1%). The last three species are new records for the country. The
biodiversity and phlebotomine abundance were associated with the proximity
to primary forest or gallery forest, but
L. neivai
was also found in peridomestic periurban environment.
L. neivai
was found throughout the year, and showed a period of higher activity from
September to April (spring to fall) with a unimodal or bimodal pattern in relation
to the annual rainy peaks during the summer. Background literature about phlebotomine
from Paraguay has been reviewed.
