Assessing the importance of four sandfly species (Diptera: Psychodidae) as vectors of Leishmania mexicana in Campeche, Mexico

Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis represents a public health problem in many areas of M exico, especially in the Y ucatan P eninsula. An understanding of vector ecology and bionomics is of great importance in evaluations of the transmission dynamics of L eishmania parasites. A field study was conducted in the county of C alakmul, state of C ampeche, during the period from N ovember 2006 to M arch 2007. Phlebotomine sandfly vectors were sampled using C enters for D isease C ontrol light traps, baited D isney traps and S hannon traps. A total of 3374 specimens were captured in the two villages of O nce de M ayo (93.8%) and A rroyo N egro (6.1%). In O nce de M ayo, the most abundant species were P sathyromyia shannoni, L utzomyia cruciata, B ichromomyia olmeca olmeca and P sychodopygus panamensis (all: D iptera: P sychodidae). The S hannon trap was by far the most efficient method of collection. The infection rate, as determined by L eishmania mexicana ‐specific polymerase chain reaction, was 0.3% in O nce de M ayo and infected sandflies included P sy. panamensis , B . o. olmeca and P sa. shannoni . There were significant differences in human biting rates across sandfly species and month of sampling. Ecological niche modelling analyses showed an overall overlap of 39.1% for the four species in the whole state of C ampeche. In addition, the finding of nine vector–reservoir pairs indicates a potential interaction. The roles of the various sandfly vectors in C alakmul are discussed.