Laboratoire MIVEGEC, UMR 224-5290 CNRS-IRD-UM, IRD Montpellier, France.
Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville, Gabon.
Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 21;7(1):250. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-00328-z.
Caves house pathogenic microorganisms, some of which are transmitted by blood-sucking arthropods. In Africa, previous studies identified mosquitoes, sand flies and biting midges as the main potential vectors of cave-dwelling pathogens. However, to understand their involvement in pathogen spillover, it is crucial to characterize their diversity, community composition and dynamics. Using CDC light traps, we collected hematophagous Diptera in six caves of Gabon during one-shot or longitudinal sampling, and investigated their species diversity and dynamics in relation with external rainfall. Overall, we identified 68 species of mosquitoes, sand flies and biting midges, including 45 new records for Gabon. The dominant species were: Uranotaenia nigromaculata, Anopheles smithii s.l., Culex. rima group and Culex quasiguiarti for mosquitoes, Spelaeophlebotomus gigas and Spelaeomyia emilii for sand flies and the Culicoides trifasciellus group and Culicoides fulvithorax for biting midges. The survey revealed that species assemblages were cave-specific and included mainly troglophilous and trogloxenous species. Both diversity and abundance varied according to the cave and sampling time, and were significantly associated with rainfall. These associations were modulated by the cave specific environmental conditions. Moreover, the presence of trogloxenous and troglophilous species could be of high significance for pathogen transfers between cave and epigeous hosts, including humans.
洞穴中栖息着致病性微生物，其中一些通过吸血节肢动物传播。在非洲，先前的研究已经确定了蚊子、沙蝇和吸血蠓是洞穴栖息地病原体的主要潜在传播媒介。然而，为了了解它们在病原体溢出中的作用，必须对其多样性、群落组成和动态进行特征描述。我们使用疾病预防控制中心的诱捕器，在加蓬的六个洞穴中进行单次或纵向采样，收集了吸血双翅目昆虫，并调查了它们的物种多样性及其与外部降雨量的关系。总的来说，我们确定了 68 种蚊子、沙蝇和吸血蠓，其中包括 45 种加蓬的新记录。优势物种包括：Uranotaenia nigromaculata、Anopheles smithii s.l.、Culex. rima 组和 Culex quasiguiarti 蚊类，Spelaeophlebotomus gigas 和 Spelaeomyia emilii 沙蝇以及 Culicoides trifasciellus 组和 Culicoides fulvithorax 吸血蠓。调查显示，物种组合是洞穴特异性的，主要包括洞穴栖息和半洞穴栖息物种。多样性和丰度因洞穴和采样时间而异，并与降雨量显著相关。这些关联受到洞穴特定环境条件的调节。此外，半洞穴栖息和洞穴栖息物种的存在可能对洞穴和表生宿主（包括人类）之间的病原体转移具有重要意义。
