Trapping site 3: France

Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA)

Leading Partner

Sand fly sampling collection

Mainland France

In France’s mainland, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne settled taps in 9 provinces with trapping activities spanning across 11 sites in various cities.

They employ 26 data loggers and 46 traps to gather information. Data loggers record information at hourly intervals.

Trapping occurs over 2 days each month, from April to November.

Corsica

In the heart of Corsica island, their efforts extend 96 traps across 6 trapping sites:

3 villages: Francardu, Corte, and Saint Pierre de Venaco, 6 different sites for trapping
Traps positioned at 6 different altitudes ranging from 283m to 781m
Two positions, internal and external, for each trap

Traps used to catch sand flies

The insects are captured using CDC light traps, which are placed both indoors and outdoors.

Image credits: ©URCA/CLIMOS

Unboxing of the UBIBOT

Trap set up outdoors in Corsica, outside a church with a paper notice kindly requesting people not to touch it

Fano José Randrianambinintsoa setting the trap near by a cemetery backyard of a church.

Light trap positioned within a historical house, nestled in the ancient basilica of Ortiporio, situated at an altitude of 670m

Trap set up indoors within an uninhabited house. Two sheep are kept inside the premises.

Sand fly collection and analysis

Sample processing and morphological analysis involved removing the head, thorax, wings, and genitalia, which were then placed in a drop of ethanol for preparation and direct observation.

Image credits: © J.Sevila/URCA/CLIMOS

Trapping insects

Insects that fall on the traps. They are collected and identified so we can separate the sand flies

Sandflies

Two species of sand flies were identified based on differences observed in the legs, abdomen, and wings. The distinctions were captured in a photo using a binocular magnifier.

Genitalia Ph. sergenti female

We can identify the sex and species of the female sand fly. Photo done by light microscope.

Genitalia Ph. perniciosus male

We can identify the sex and species of the male sand fly. Photo done by light microscope.

Results

Mainland France

Provinces	Sites	Collaborators	Total Data Loggers	Total traps	Total trapped flies
NORMANDIE	Rouen	Loic FAVENNEC	2	3	0
ILE-DE-FRANCE	Paris	Arezki IZRI	2	2	2
GRAND-EST	Reims	Jérome DEPAQUIT, Nalia MEKARNIA, Fano RANDRIANAMBININTSOA & Hubert FERTE	3	4	0
	Strasbourg	Bruno MATHIEU	2	4	1
BRETAGNE	Rennes	Florence ROBERT-GANGNEUX, Jorian PRUDHOMME	2	4	0
NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE	Limoges	Marie-Laure DARDE & Aurelien MERCIER	3	5	1
OCCITANIE	Montpellier	Anne-Laure BANULS, Idriss MHAIDI & Francois BASSEVILLE	3	6	313
	Toulouse	Emmanuel LIENARD & Emilie BOUHSIRA	2	4	2
BOURGOGNE-FRANCHE-COMTE	Saint-Ythaire	Stephane GOLDBLUM	2	4	7
PROVENCE-ALPES-CÃTE D'AZUR	Nice	Pascal DELAUNAY & Christelle POMARES	2	4	2

Corsica

Julie SEVILA & Alessandra FALCHI

6 trapping sites in Corsica centrum:

3 villages: Francardu, Corte, and Saint Pierre de Venaco,
2 traps/village
6 altitudes (283m, 292m, 756m, 781m, 501m, 465m)
Two positions, internal and external, for each trap

Total trapping = 96
Positive traps to sand flies = 42,7% (41/96)
Total trapped sand flies = 1000
Nb of males = 640
Nb of females = 360 (including 30 fed females)
Sex Ratio = 1,77

Sand flies species	Nb of specimens (% )
Ph. perniciosus	607 (60,7%)
Se. minuta	363 (36,3%)
Ph. sergenti	7 (0,7%)
Ph. mascittii	1 (0,1%)
No identification yet	22 (2,2%)