Morphometrical study on Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus) papatasi sensu lato (Diptera: Psychodidae) in four different regions in Iran

Background: Phlebotomus papatasi is the sand fly vector responsible for the transmission of Leishmania major of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis(ZCL).Identification of both sand fly and Leishmania spp. help for predicting extension of the disease in endemic areas, and it is also important for designing new strategic programs for limit spreading of this vector.Objective: Our main objective was to provide reliable morphological method to identify male of this important vector of disease. Thus the tools developed in this study should facilitate the answering of fundamental questions on the epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis in this areas.Material and method: This study was conducted in four different regions of Iran to see the morphometric differences between different body parts of Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus) papatasi (Scopoli.). 30 male samples from each region were collected using sticky paper traps. The analysis has been done by STATA software.Result: This study showed that there were significant differences between P. papatasi collected from these regions in some characters including A3 (fragment 3 of antenna), coxit width and stylet length, that they can be explainable by weather condition, elevation, and even natural selection.Conclusion: Environmental factors and genetic mutations are the most effective for morphological differences between sand flies. The morphometric results of this study have important applications for epidemiological studies of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Keywords:

Morphometric , Sand fly , Phlebotomus papatasi , STATA software , Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ZCL) , Iran.