Influence of Moonlight On Light-Emitting Diode Trap Catches of Phlebotomine Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae)1

The influence of moonlight on light-emitting diode (LED) trap catches of sand flies was evaluated compared with incandescent lamps used in standard CDC-type light traps. A total of six Hoover Pugedo (HP) CDC-type light traps were used for sampling sand flies in a randomized 3×3 Latin Square design. Light traps were set during full and new moon periods from July to September, 2015 and from February to March, 2016. Four of the six light traps had their incandescent lamps replaced by LEDs. The green (520 nm) and the blue LEDs (470 nm) were the 5 mm LED lamps used in the experiments. The two remaining HP light traps without modifications were used as controls. A total of 2,968 specimens representing 13 species were analyzed. The most frequently-encountered species were: Evandromyia evandroi Costa Lima & Antunes, Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva) and Nyssomyia whitmani (Antunes & Coutinho). Generally, catch declined with increasing moonlight. The number of specimens was greater on new moon nights, whatever the light source used. Even with the decrease of the attractiveness of light traps under the full moon, LEDs are less affected than incandescent lights by the competitive effect of moonlight.