| Abstract: | The composition and seasonal occurrence of sandflies were investigated in coffeeagroecosystems in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico. Insect sampling wasperformed on three plantations located at different altitudes: Finca Guadalupe Zajú[1,000 m above sea level (a.s.l.)], Finca Argovia (613 m a.s.l.) and Teotihuacán delValle (429 m a.s.l.). Sandflies were sampled monthly from August 2007-July 2008 usingthree sampling methods: Shannon traps, CDC miniature light traps and Disney traps.Sampling was conducted for 3 h during three consecutive nights, beginning at sunset.A total of 4,387 sandflies were collected during the course of the study: 2,718individuals in Finca Guadalupe Zajú, 605 in Finca Argovia and 1,064 in Teotihuacándel Valle. The Shannon traps captured 94.3% of the total sandflies, while the CDClight traps and Disney traps captured 4.9% and 0.8%, respectively. More females thanmales were collected at all sites. While the number of sandflies captured waspositively correlated with temperature and relative humidity, a negative correlationwas observed between sandfly numbers and rainfall. Five species of sandflies werecaptured: Lutzomyia cruciata , Lutzomyia texana ,Lutzomyia ovallesi , Lutzomyia cratifer /undulata and Brumptomyia sp. Lu.cruciata , constituting 98.8% of the total, was the most abundantspecies. None of the captured sandflies was infected with Leishmaniaspp. |
