RESEARCH A study of a population o (Diptera: Psychodidae) cau e

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articlemyia gomezi and Lutzomyia ayacuchensis are proven vectors of Leishmania parasites [3]. Leishmaniasis was first reported in Ecuador in 1920 [4] and is now endemic in the coastal region. It is present in 22 of the country’s 24 provinces and purportedly has an incidence of In the Pacific region of Ecuador, the sand fly species Nys-somyia trapidoi is distributed throughout the western foot-hills of the Andes and along the coast and is an important vector of Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis [3,8-10]. Ny. trapidoi is highly anthropophilic [11-13] and is com-monly collected in secondary forests, crop plantations and close to human dwellings. The same features were observed in the original description of Ny. trapidoi by Fair-child & Hertig [14] who analyzed specimens from Panama (type-locality) and from the Ecuadorian Coast. A recent study in Panama found a high prevalence (43.3%) o