Monitoring phlebotomine sandflies in urban areas is key for epidemiological studies in susceptible populations. This paper describes sandfly fauna that were present in an urban area of the municipality of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, and were captured with Shannon and CDC light traps. During February and March of 2014, 1,442 sandflies were captured, specifically Lutzomyia cruciata (Coquillet) (98.8%), Lutzomyia cayennensis cayennensis (Floch and Abonnenc) (0.8%), Lutzomyia chiapanensis (Dampf) (0.3%) and Lutzomyia atulapai (De León) (0.1%). Lu. cruciata was the most abundant and the most frequently trapped species. This is the first record of its remarkable ability to adapt to urban green areas. The three other species trapped represent new records of geographic distribution for the study region. These results indicate the need to establish measures for reducing both human contact with this vector and the risk of possible sites of infection.

Después de medir el tamaño del cuerpo, abdomen y cefalotórax de la pupa macho y hembra de Aedes albopictus, decidimos usar el tamaño del cefalotórax de la pupa macho para construir un dispositivo para la separación de individuos por sexo en el estado pupal. De manera interesante, muchas pupas macho no pasaron a través del tamiz y fueron retenidos y sacrificados como pupas hembra; esto puede significar un desperdicio de recursos que no ha sido informado previamente. Por tal motivo se hace énfasis en que la eficiencia de retención de pupas macho debe ser confirmada si se planea su cría masiva.

The composition and seasonal occurrence of sandflies were investigated in coffee agroecosystems in the Soconusco region of Chiapas, Mexico. Insect sampling was performed on three plantations located at different altitudes: Finca Guadalupe Zajú [1,000 m above sea level (a.s.l.)], Finca Argovia (613 m a.s.l.) and Teotihuacán del Valle (429 m a.s.l.). Sandflies were sampled monthly from August 2007-July 2008 using three sampling methods: Shannon traps, CDC miniature light traps and Disney traps. Sampling was conducted for 3 h during three consecutive nights, beginning at sunset. A total of 4,387 sandflies were collected during the course of the study: 2,718 individuals in Finca Guadalupe Zajú, 605 in Finca Argovia and 1,064 in Teotihuacán del Valle. The Shannon traps captured 94.3% of the total sandflies, while the CDC light traps and Disney traps captured 4.9% and 0.8%, respectively. More females than males were collected at all sites. While the number of sandflies captured was positively correlated with temperature and relative humidity, a negative correlation was observed between sandfly numbers and rainfall. Five species of sandflies were captured: Lutzomyia cruciata , Lutzomyia texana , Lutzomyia ovallesi , Lutzomyia cratifer / undulata and Brumptomyia sp. Lu. cruciata , constituting 98.8% of the total, was the most abundant species. None of the captured sandflies was infected with Leishmaniaspp.

A device that uses fluorescent powder to automatically mark large numbers of honeybees provides a good method to distinguish focal colony foragers from foragers of other colonies. However, when humidity is high, the powder readily forms pellets that cannot pass through the mesh and marking is diminished. We present here an apparatus to mass-mark honeybees with liquid paint. We demonstrate that this low-cost device is a highly efficient method to mark honeybees and does not produce any observable mortality on test foragers or impairing flight ability.

Se muestran los resultados de la búsqueda de Leishmania y Wolbachia mediante PCR, en flebotominos recolectados durante 2011 (febrero-marzo) en cafetales de cuatro localidades ubicadas dentro de un transecto altitudinal en la región del Soconusco, Chiapas, México. Las especies Lutzomyia texana y Lu. carpenteri son documentadas por primera vez para el estado de Chiapas. Wolbachia fue detectada en una hembra de Lutzomyia cruciata capturada en la Finca Guadalupe Sajú. Todas las muestras fueron negativas a Leishmania.

Using PCR-based tools, we show the results of screening for Leishmania and Wolbachia in a phlebotomine sand flies collected during 2011 (February-march) in coffee plantations of four localities along an altitudinal transect in the Soconusco region, Chiapas, Mexico. The species Lutzomyia texana and Lu. carpenteri are documented for the first time for the state of Chiapas. Wolbachia was detected in a female of Lutzomyia cruciata captured in the Guadalupe Saju farm. All samples were negative to Leishmania.