Folia faunistica Slovaca 22 (2017) 7–12

Checklist, distribution maps, bibliography of the Hungarian Phlebotomus (Diptera: Psychodidae) fauna complementing with the climate profile of the recent sandfly distribution areas in Hungary

Attila János Trájer

MTA-PE, Limnoecology Research Group, Egyetem u. 10, H-8200 Veszprém, Hungary; attilatrajer@gmail.com
University of Pannonia, Department of Limnology, Egyetem u. 10, H-8200 Veszprém, Hungary

© 2017 Faunima, Bratislava, e–ISSN 1336–4529 ISSN 1335–7522 www.ffs.sk

 

Introduction

There are more than 700 sandfly species worldwide and 17 species of sandflies and 3 subspecies of the Phlebotomus (Larroussius) major complex in Europe. Phlebotomus species are the vectors of several Leishmania pathogens and Phleboviruses in the Mediterranean parts of Europe where five species can transmit visceral leishmaniasis to humans, namely Phlebotomus (Larroussius) ariasi Tonnoir, 1921, Phlebotomus major neglectus Tonnoir, 1921, Phlebotomus (Larroussius) perfiliewi Parrot, 1930, Phlebotomus (Larroussius) tobbi Adler, Theodor et Lourie, 1930, and Phlebotomus (Larroussius) perniciosus Newstead, 1911 (Minter 1989; Léger et al. 2000). Most of the sandfly species are typical tropical and subtropical fauna elements, but some species are native to the temperate areas of Europe. In contrast to the members of Culicidae, sandflies and several other species of Psychoda breeds in wet, decaying organic materials and microbial mats. Some of them are synanthropic species which can breed in water-wells of bathrooms and showers and along the rifts of old buildings or in the cracks of the walls. The anthropogenic climate change is predicted to trigger the northward spread of sandfly species and Leishmania infantum in Europe including the whole Carpathian basin (Trájer et al. 2013). It seems that in the Pannonian ecoregion the observed and projected regional warming trends exceed the warming trends of Europe (Bartholy et al. 2007). The minimum temperature limit of the survival of larvae is about -4°C to 5 °C depending on the species and countries (Killick-Kendrick & Killick-Kendrick 1999; Naucke & Schmitt 2004; Rioux et al. 1984; Singh 1999). The January mean and mean minimum temperatures are important distribution liming factors of sandfly vectors in east and central Europe (Trájer et al. 2013). Urban heat island effect can help the survival of the extrazonal populations of sandfly species far north from their continuous distribution area in the Carpathian basin (Trájer et al. 2014; Bede-Fazekas & Trájer 2015).

The purpose of this paper was to provide a checklist on Phlebotomus species and the comparable climate data of the distribution areas of sandfly species in Hungary.

History

Studies on Hungarian sandfly fauna started in the 1930’s and only sparse data were published until the end of the 2000’s. The first paper on the observation of Phlebotomus species in Hungary was published in 1933 by Lörincz & Szentkirályi. They investigated the regional outbreak of an unfamiliar type of dermatitis which was affected about 30 patients in Hódmezővásárhely, south-east Hungary during the August of 1931. The etiologic connection between the papular or vesicular eruptions and the bites of Phlebotomus species was proved. The individuals of Phlebotomus macedonicus Adler et Theodor, 1931 (= Phlebotomus (Larroussius) perfiliewi) were found in the trapped materials. The insects were observed first in the August of 1931, but in the same month of 1932 the sandflies were observed again. Ivánovics (1953) mentioned the presence of Phlebotomus species in Hungary as the potential vector of Pappataci-fever. Szabó & Draskovits (1983) proposed the possible occurrence of Phlebotomus papatasi in the southern part of Hungary. They also mentioned the occurrence of Phlebotomus perfiliewi from Esztergom and the Gellért Hill cave, Budapest, based on the trappings of the National Public Health Service of Hungary which were performed sometimes in the 1960’s (Tánczos 2012). These observations can be handled as ‘uncertain occurrences’. The later surveys showed that the historical observations were not unfounded since two Phlebotomus species were observed in the agglomeration of the Capital and also two species in south-east Hungary. In 2007 – 2010 a countrywide survey was performed to investigate the presence of Phlebotomus species and canine leishmaniasis in Hungary. Tánczos (2012) summarized the results of the collection surveys in his doctoral dissertation and presented the detailed history of sandfly research in Hungary. Altogether the presence of 4 sandfly species was proved (Farkas et al., 2011; Tánczos 2012; Tánczos et al. 2012). In 2014, a minor survey was conducted for the investigation of the physical requirements of Phlebotomus major subsp. neglectus in Nagyharsány, Hungary (unpublished data) and another for the investigation of the proposed presence of sandfly species and Aedes albopictus Skuse, 1894 in the border region of south-west Hungary and Croatia (Trájer et al. 2016).

Material and methods

Taxonomy

Both of the nomenclature and taxonomy were based on the Fauna Europea zoological taxonomic index database (Wagner 2013).

Climate data

The January mean minimum temperatures, the monthly averages of mean, minimum, maximum temperatures and daily average precipitation values were derived from the European Climate Assessment Dataset (Haylock et al. 2008). The values were averaged for the period of January 1950 to December 2014 (the year of the last collecting survey in Hungary for sandfly species). Average values were calculated from the 0.25° grid within the domain including the certain collecting sites and almost the entire south Pannonian ecoregion. The latitudinal range of the whole frame was 45°00’N to 46°25’N, while the longitudinal was 16°45’°E to 21°00’E. The monthly average values of the used climate values were averaged according to the following grids (Table 1, 2).

Results

Checklist of sandfly species

Phlebotomus (Transphlebotomus) mascittii (Grassi, 1908)

Loc. Kapolcs – Bakony Mts, Veszprém County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012), Nagyharsány – Villány Hills, Baranya County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012), Törökbálint – Buda Mts, Pest County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012; Figure 1).

Phlebotomus (Larroussius) major neglectus (Tonnoir, 1921)

Loc. Nagyharsány – Villány Hills, Baranya County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012, Trájer et al. 2016) Törökbálint-Buda Mts, Pest County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012), Villánykövesd-Villány Hills, Baranya County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012; Figure 2).

Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus) papatasi (Scopoli, 1786)

Loc. Maroslele Maroslele – southern Hungary, Csongrád County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012; Figure 3).

Phlebotomus (Larroussius) perfiliewi (Parrot, 1930)

Loc. Földeák – southern Hungary, Csongrád County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012), Maroslele-southern Hungary, Csongrád County (Farkas et al. 2011; Tánczos 2012), Hódmezővásárhely – southern Hungary, Csongrád County (Lőrincz & Szentkirály 1933), Budapest (?) – Buda Mts, Budapest (Szabó & Draskovits 1983), Esztergom (?) – Danube Bend, Komárom – Esztergom County (Szabó & Draskovits 1983; Figure 4).

Climatic zoogeography of the sandfly fauna

The January mean minimum temperature, which is an important climatic limiting factor of the distribution of sandflies, showed notable differences between the main distribution areas in 1950 – 2014. Ph. papatasi and Ph. perfiliewi inhabit the coldest areas where the January mean minimum daily temperatures were the lowest C in 1950 – 2014 (mean: -3.95, maximum: 0.48 °C and the minimum: -12.55 °C). The winters were relatively mild in Törökbálint (belongs to the agglomeration of Budapest), where both Ph. major subsp. neglectus and Ph. mascittii were found (mean: -2.54, maximum: 2.70 and the minimum: -8.83 °C). Ph. mascittii also was observed in Kapolcs, where the winters are somewhat milder than in the distribution area of Ph. papatasi and Ph. perfiliewi, but colder than the climate of the agglomeration of Budapest (mean: -3.45, maximum: 1.15 and the minimum: -10.21 °C). Ph. major subsp. neglectus was also collected in Nagyharsány and Villánykövesd (mean: -3.25 to -3.40, maximum: 2.39 to 2.25 and the minimum: -10.72 to -11.09 °C; Figure 5).

The warmer, submediterranean Croatian areas (January mean minimum temperature is more than -2.37 °C) are close to the Nagyharsány-Villánykövesd area. The south-east Hungarian occurrences of sandfly species are situated north to the warmer south-west areas of Romania and north-east Serbia (Figure 6).

Based on the linear trend of the January mean minimum temperature data of 1950 – 2014, the most notable winter warming trends (3.9 – 3.6 °C per 65 years) were observed in the south-east parts of the Great Hungarian Plain and Vojvodina, Serbia, that about cover the south Hungarian distribution area of sandfly species (Figure 7).

The result of the cluster analysis for Hungarian occurrence grids of sandfly species based on the average values of monthly climatic variables showed the clear dichotomization of the north (A and B) and south (C and D) main distribution areas. The climates of the C and D distribution areas are more similar to each other than the climates of the A and B distribution areas’ (Figure 8).

Discussion

Altogether the presences of four Phlebotomus species were confirmed in Hungary in the last one hundred years: Ph. mascittii, Ph. major neglectus, Ph. papatasi and Ph. perfiliwei (Farkas et al. 2011; Lőrincz & Szentkirály 1933; Tánczos 2012; Trájer et al. 2016). Four major distribution areas were found. Most of the positive collecting sites can be found in south-west Hungary, in the south-east part of the Great Hungarian Plain and in the agglomeration of Budapest. It is noticeable that -excluding the uncertain observations- the composition of the recent sandfly faunas of south-east and west Hungary are different: Ph. perfiliewi and Ph. papatasi recently only presents in the south-east, Ph. neglectus and Ph. mascittii only in the Transdanubian (west) part of Hungary. The Transdanubian distribution of Ph. mascitti can be explained by the wider zoogeography of the species since it is the fauna element of the west Balkan. The population of this species in Törökbálint forms the most eastern, but not the most northern occurrence of the species in the Pannonian ecoregion since Dvorak et al. (2016) found Ph. mascitti in Slovakia. In contrast, Ph. papatasi and Ph. major subsp. neglectus can be found both in the south-east and south-west of the Pannonian ecoregion. Ph. perfiliewi presents in Serbia (Depaquit et al. 2013) and Croatia (Bosnić et al. 2006). These zoogeographical observations indicate that the Hungarian Phlebotomus fauna is also related to the east and the west Balkan sandfly faunas.

The recent warming trend of the south Pannonian ecoregion raises the possibility of the increasing abundance of sandfly species in the region and a possible faunistic exchange between the south-west and south-east sandfly faunas. Due to the heat island effect of the Capital’s agglomeration the winters are milder in Törökbálint, where both Ph. major subsp. neglectus and Ph. mascittii were found, than the winters of the south-western and south-eastern distribution areas of these species. The influence of heat island effect of Budapest on the overwintering potential of Ph. major subsp. neglectus and Ph. mascittii previously was studied by Bede-Fazekas & Trájer (2015) and Trájer et al. (2014).

Data of monthly climatic factors of the four major distribution areas including temperature variables and monthly precipitation values is given. This can be the basis of further climatic zoogeographical investigations of the Carpathian basin’s sandfly fauna.

References

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Figure 2. The distribution of Ph. major subsp. neglectus in Hungary (black rectangles: confirmed observations).

 

Figure 3. The distribution of Ph. papatasi in Hungary (black rectangles: confirmed observation).

Figure 4. The distribution of Ph. perfiliewi in Hungary (black rectangles: confirmed observations, dark grey rectangles: unconfirmed observations).

Figure 5. The mean January minimum daily temperature values in 1950-2014 according to the five grid of confirmed observations of Phlebotomus species.

Figure 6. The averages of the January mean minimum temperature values in the South Pannonian Ecoregion (45°00’N to 46°25’N – 16°45’°E to 21°00’E) in 1950 – 2014.

1 – Nagyharsány, 2 – Villánykövesd, 3 – Maroslele, 4 – Földeák

Figure 7. The trends of the January mean minimum temperature values in the South Pannonian ecoregion (45°00’N to 46°25’N – 16°45’°E to 21°00’E) according to the linear trend of the annual mean temperature values in 1950 – 2014.

1 – Nagyharsány, 2 – Villánykövesd, 3 – Maroslele, 4 – Földeák