In Latin America, Lutzomyia longipalpis is the main

vector of Leishmania infantum (syn. Leishmania cha-gasi), the causal agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) (Lainson & Rangel 2005). This illness has been de-scribed as a rural disease. However, urban outbreaks have been the recent trend, with the domestic dog serv-ing as the main urban reservoir (Ready 2008). Lu. lon-gipalpis is highly adaptable to peri-urban and urban settings (Harhay et al. 2011) and previous studies of the region have shown that Lu. longipalpis is abundant in areas that are densely populated with humans (Fernán-dez et al. 2010, Harhay et al. 2011). The historical transmission pattern of VL indicates that the parasite circulates in rural forested areas or even at the periphery of urban environments (Feliciangeli et al. 2006). VL transmission has also been observed in middle-class neighbourhoods in highly urbanised areas (Cerbino Neto et al. 2009). Some environmental characteristics, such as the presence of chickens and other domestic animals, fruit trees and deficient sanitary conditions, may increase the abundance of sandflies by providing suitable breedin