Phlebotomine sand fly species co-occurrence at the local scale: Differences between agricultural and forested areas

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) are vectors of Leishmania parasites, etiological agents of leishmaniases in humans and other mammals worldwide. A previous study showed that at large biogeographical scales sand fly patterns of co-occurrence are segregated, indicating that sand fly communities at such scales are likely shaped by environmental factors and inter-specific interactions. However, no study has addressed co-occurrence patterns at the local scale of disease transmission. Here, a null-model analysis of species co-occurrence patterns is presented, showing that at the local scale patterns of sand fly species co-occurrence shift from a segregated structure to random when comparing a forest to a farmland. These patterns may explain the ecological fitting of sand flies with regard to the choice of diurnal resting sites in transformed landscapes, which may impact the transmission of Leishmania parasites by disrupting patterns of blood foraging across vertebrate hosts.(AU)

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