Open AccessSeasonal dynamics and altitudinal distributions of sand fly (Diptera: Psychodidae) populations in a cutaneous leishmaniasis endemic area of the Cukurova region of Turkey
Author(s) -
Belen Aslı,
Alten Bülent
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of vector ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1948-7134
pISSN - 1081-1710
DOI - 10.1111/j.1948-7134.2011.00116.x
Subject(s) - psychodidae , abundance (ecology) , altitude (triangle) , biology , phlebotomus , jaccard index , cutaneous leishmaniasis , veterinary medicine , diversity index , ecology , leishmaniasis , species richness , leishmania , mathematics , statistics , medicine , parasite hosting , geometry , cluster analysis , world wide web , computer science , immunology
This paper presents the results of an entomological survey in an endemic focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Cukurova region of Turkey. A total of 8,927 specimens belonging to eight Phlebotomus and two Sergentomyia species were captured with sticky papers and CDC light traps from 52 stations. Phlebotomus tobbi Adler, was found to be the most abundant species. Sand fly activity started in May and ended in October. Abundance was highest in August. According to the frequency distributions among certain temperature intervals the observed number of individuals was significantly different from the expected values between 22–24° C and 28–30° C. There was no significant correlation between the abundance of sand flies and altitude. However, sand fly species showed great aggregation at the 100–199 m and 200–299 m altitude intervals. The Shannon–Weinner index indicated no difference between the diversity and abundance of sand flies at different altitudes. Diversity and evenness reached maximum values at 500 m. Jaccard's coefficient indicated that similarity was the highest between 0–99 and 300–399, 0–99 and 500–599 and 100–199 and 200–299 m and lowest between 100–199 and 300–399 and 100–199 and 500–599 m.