Seasonal fluctuations of phlebotomines sand fly populations (Diptera: Psychodidae) in the Moulay Yacoub province, centre Morocco: Effect of ecological factors

Abstract

An entomological survey of phlebotomine sand flies was conducted in the Moulay Yacoub province, central Morocco. An anthropic niche (Ouled Aid) and a wild niche (Zliligh) were selected. Sand flies were collected twice a month between April 2011 and March 2012, using sticky traps and CDC light traps. 3675 specimens were collected (78.3% males/21.7% females) which composed of eight species divided into two genera: Phlebotomus (90.34%), wide Phlebotomus papatasi (49.78%), Phlebotomus sergenti (27.17%), Phlebotomus longicuspis (13.69%), Phlebotomus pernicuosis (9.36%) and Sergentomyia (9.66%) composed of Sergentomyia fallax (52.36%), Sergentomyia minuta (34.26%) Sergentomyia antennata (11.16%) and Sergentomyia dreyfussi (2.22%). P. papatasi is dominant in the anthropic niche and P. longicuspis is dominant in the wild niche. The population dynamics showed a bimodal pattern with a first peak in June for both studied stations and a second one in September for Ouled Aid and in August for Zliligh. A significant positive correlation between the density and the temperature(r = 0.64, r = 0.66) and a significant negative correlation with humidity (r = -0.64, r = -0.62) are shown. Density (119 specimens/m2/night) of sand flies showed that Moulay Yacoub’s province presents a risk for the inhabitants in the vicinity of Fez. This situation requires continuous monitoring to prevent and reduce the leishmania risk.

Key words: Sand flies, leishmaniasis, seasonality; risk period, Moulay Yacoub, Morocco.