Evaluation of light-emitting diodes as attractant for sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) in northeastern Brazil

• Main Authors: Francinaldo Soares Silva, Jefferson Mesquita Brito, Benedita Maria Costa Neta, Shelre Emile Pereira Duarte Lobo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2015-09-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: light trapping; vector control; sandfly surveillance
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762015000600801&lng=en&tlng=en

Hoover Pugedo light traps were modified for use with green and blue-light-emitting diodes to trap phlebotomine sandflies in northeastern Brazil. A total of 2,267 specimens belonging to eight genera and 15 species were sampled. The predominant species were Nyssomyia whitmani(34.41%) and Micropygomyia echinatopharynx(17.25%).The green LED trap prevailed over the blue and control lights; however, no statistically significant difference could be detected among the three light sources. Even without statistical significance, we suggest using LEDs as an attractant for the capture of sandflies because of several advantages over the conventional method with incandescent lamps.