Seasonal Abundance of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Dipteral Psychodidae) at an Endemic Focus of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Colombia

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Abstract
Ecological studies on the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva) were conducted during 1990–1993 in a small rural community in Colombia where American visceral leishmaniasis is endemic. Standardized weekly sand fly collections made from pigpens and natural resting sites displayed a bimodal annual abundance cycle, with a small peak occurring in October–November and a larger one in April–May. Time series analysis was employed to quantify the associations between sand fly abundance and weather factors (temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall). In addition to a prominent 6-ino cycle, Fourier analysis of the collection data demonstrated that the L. longipalpis population also exhibited a 5- to S-wk cycle that may represent the length of larval development. Autoregressive moving average models were fit to weekly collection data and their residuals were regressed against rainfall, temperature, and relative humidity. A significant positive association between female L. longipalpis abundance and the relative humidity and rainfall recorded 3 wk earlier was found, indicating that these factors may be of value in predicting sand fly abundance. Additionally, these data indicated that L. longipalpis larvae may become quiescent during adverse conditions.

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