Diversidade de Flebotomíneos em área Urbana do Norte do Tocantins, Brasil.

Abstract

Sandflies are dipterous insects of the Psychodiae family and some species of the subfamily Phlebotominae are biological vectors of protozoa of the genus Leishmania, which cause Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) and American Cutaneous (AC). The municipality of Araguaína, located in the northern region of the state of Tocantins, has a high incidence of leishmaniasis and a lack of studies on the ecoepidemiology of vectors. This study aimed to identify the sand fly fauna present in areas of the urban area of the municipality of Araguaína - TO and to determine ecological indices. Were carried out inside and outside residences (collection points) distributed in 22 neighborhoods in the urban area of the municipality, in 24 points. Captures were performed using CDC-type light traps installed for 3 consecutive nights. Males and females of sandflies were separated and identified by collection point. The Shanon-Weiner (H') diversity indices, Simpson's diversity index, dominance, and evenness, in addition to relative abundance (RA), positive sector index (PSI), and house infestation index (HII) were calculated. 4314 specimens of 10 different sand fly species were identified, with the highest abundance of Lutzomyia longipalpis (97.15%) followed by Nyssomyia whitmani (1.37%). Shanon's diversity (H') values in the researched communities ranged from 0.00 to 0.56, dominance from 0.62 to 1, and equitability from 0.035 to 0.811. The IID for Lu. longipalpis was 95.83, the ISP was 90.91 and the RA was 174.63. For Ny. whitmani the IID was 45.83% and the HII was 45.45, with an RA of 2.46. The results demonstrate that the VL vector is widely distributed in the urban area of the municipality, as the dominant sandfly species, the primary vector species of LT in Brazil, Ny. whitmani is also present in the urban area of the city.