Morphometric and phenetic studies of five geographical populations of Lutzomyia whitmani (Diptera : Psychodidae) in Brazil

A morphometric survey examined adult specimens of Lutzomyia whitmani (Antun es & Coutinho) captured at 5 municipalities in southeastern and northeaster n Brazil to compare the populations. The localities were Ilheus (Bahia), Ma rtinho Campos (Minas Gerais), Corte de Pedra (Bahia), Baturite (Ceara), and Amaraji (Pernambuco); all are known foci of American cutaneous leishmanias is. Fifteen males and 15 females from each population were analyzed morphom etrically for 42 and 37 characters, respectively. Statistical data alone we re insufficient to discriminate among the 5 populations. Further analysis g enerated phenograms that indicated there were 2 spatial clusters: the 1st w as composed of specimens from Ilheus (Bahia) and Baturite (Ceara) and the 2 nd of specimens from Martinho Campos (Minas Gerais), Corte de Pedra (Bahia) , and Amaraji (Pernambuco). Although insufficient to define the taxonomic s tatus of the populations studied, the results delineated the existence of b iogeographical structuring within L. whitmani. Complementary studies on the susceptibility to Leishmania braziliensis infection in the 5 populations a ve in progress to clarify the relationship between the 2 biogeographical cl usters and American cutaneous leishmaniasis transmission in those Brazilian regions.