Two new phlebotomine sandfly species (Diptera: Psychodidae) from the Highlands of Madagascar

Abstract

The Malagasy phlebotomine sandfly fauna includes 17 species: five belong to the genus Phlebotomus, ten to the genus Sergentomyia, and two to the genus Grassomyia. The current article describes Sergentomyia brunhesi sp. nov. and Sergentomyia vistellei sp. nov. from the Malagasy Highlands. Females were described morphologically from specimens collected at Ranomafana–Ifanadiana and Andringitra. Partial molecular sequences of cyt b and 28S rDNA were retrieved for Se. vistellei sp. nov. Waiting new data, we consider these species as ungrouped Sergentomyia. Two new species of Sergentomyia are recorded at higher altitudes in Madagascar. Knowledge of local Biodiversity is increasing. New investigations have to be carried out to describe males, to understand their bionomics, and to identify other potential new species at higher altitudes.