Analysis of morphological variations of three Adlerius (Diptera: Psychodidae) species collected in two cutaneous leishmaniasis endemic foci of Turkey

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Kavur H., Arıkan H., Balcıoğlu İ. C., Töz S., Özbel Y.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TROPICAL INSECT SCIENCE, cilt.42, sa.93, ss.102, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)

Özet

Leishmaniasis, transmitted to human by sand flies, is a neglected vector-borne diseases and has two clinical forms; cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Turkey. Subgenus of Adlerius are known as probable vectors of both forms of leishmaniasis in Turkey. Examined three species belonging to Adlerius are difficult to distinguish morphologically and have similar taxonomic characters. The aim of this study was to analyse and identify the possible morphological variations, of wild-caught sand fly specimens belonging to Adlerius subgenus. Six and seven morphological characters for female and male specimens were used, respectively. ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) test were performed to determine the significant morphometric variables of the three species. Univariate and multivariate analyses of 13 morphometric variables via ANOVA, DFA and PCA showed that eight (six for females, two for males) morphometric variables had an accuracy of 100% for discriminating three Adlerius subgenus specimens. The analyses revealed significant differences on several morphological structures of Adlerius specimens. These results suggested that morphological and morphometrical features can be used to discriminate three Adlerius species, which one of them is proven vector Leishmania (L.) tropica in two foci of Turkey.