Sand flies in the Aguapei river floodplain, northwest area of State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the seasonal variation of sand flies regarding their occurrences and densities. METHODS: The study was conducted in the Aguapei river floodplain in the state of Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil. Sand flies were monthly captured with automatic light traps set up between 18:00 and 7:00 hours, over a period of one year (2004-2005), at two sites: veranda of a domicile and in a forest on the banks of Aguapei River. The Williams' average was used for estimating the seasonal variation and the Chi-square test for comparison. RESULTS: A total of 35,995 specimens were captured: five Brumptomyia avellari, one Psathyromyia (Xiphomyia) hermanlenti and the rest Nyssomyia neivai, which had the highest frequency during the winter. Ps. hermanlenti is first recorded in state of Sao Paulo. CONCLUSIONS: The high density off Nyssomyia neivai, a suspected vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis, points out to the risk of transmission of this disease in this setting, especially during drier periods of the year.