Sandfly diversity and identified vector species
DNA metabarcoding identified 11 sandfly taxa (Table 1). We categorized
the identified sandfly species based on their known medical importance.
Of the 11 sandfly taxa, seven are considered medically important vectors
(Table 1; Fig. 3). The most abundant sandfly species wasPsathyromyia aragaoi (RAI = 0.86). High abundance of this sandfly
species is correlated with proximity to armadillo holes and domestic
animal dwellings (Margonari et al., 2010). This species is not currently
confirmed as a medically important species for the transmission ofLeishmania to humans but multiple studies have confirmed the
presence of Leishmania spp. in Psathyromyia aragaoisamples and one recent study found a human blood meal from Pa.
aragaoi (Araujo-Pereira et al., 2020) so we classified this species as
a possible vector. Of all known vectors of Leishmania spp.,Nyssomyia spp. (RAI = 0.64) were the most prevalent followed byPsychodopygus davisi (RAI = 0.12), both of which are vectors of
cutaneous leishmaniasis. Two vectors of visceral leishmaniasis,Lutzomyia longipalpis and Migonemyia migonei , were also
present but at low relative abundance (RAI < 0.01) (Table 1).