Incrimination of Phiebotomus papatasi as vector of Leishmania major in the southern Jordan Valley

he status of sandflies as vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the southern Jordan Valley was investigated during 1992. Sandflies were collected from domestic habitats and from burrows of Psammomys obesus . Of 686 Phlebotomus papatasi females collected from burrows, fourteen harboured promastigotes in their guts. On the other hand, none of 1446 P.papatasi females collected from domestic habitats were found infected. The highest infection rate (5.5%) was recorded in November at the end of the sandfly season. Six leishmanial stocks isolated from P.papatasi females were typed by cellulose acetate electrophoresis using the six enzymes G6PDH, 6PGDH, PGI, PGM, FK and ME. Five of the leishmanial stocks were identical to a Leishmania major reference strain (MHOMISU/73/5-ASKH). The sixth isolate was a 6PGDH variant of L.major . These findings present the first direct evidence of the role of P.papatasi as a vector of L.major in Jordan.     

Leishmaniasis in the Jordan Valley. V. Dispersal characteristics of the sandfly Phlebotomus papatasi

Several characteristics of dispersing and non-dispersing Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) were quantified and compared. The majority of dispersing sandflies, trapped crossing fallow fields, were females (68.5% v. 51.1%); of the dispersing females, 55.4% were parous, 48.1% were inseminated and 11.6% were gravid. In the population of sandflies sampled exiting from burrows of the sand rat Psammomys obesus Cretschmar, these categories, respectively, represented 39%, 90% and 26% of the females examined. Leishmania promastigotes were found in 9% of females exiting from P. obesus burrows, and in 2.7% of the dispersing females. The anthrone test established that the reason for activity of gravid females is sugar feeding. These females do not disperse and are suitable targets for future control measures.     

Sugars in the gut of the sandfly Phlebotomus orientalis from Dinder National Park, Eastern Sudan

The sandfly Phlebotomus orientalis Parrot (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the vector of visceral leishmaniasis in eastern and Upper Nile regions of Sudan, where vector infection rates of over 7% have been reported. Sugars are known to be important for development of the parasite and for increasing the survival and oviposition rates of several species of sandflies. In the present study we have analysed the sugars present in the guts of individuals and groups of male and female P. orientalis and compared these with sugars from several potential local plant sources: Acacia seyal, Balanites aegyptiaca and Combretum kordofanum. The distribution of these trees in Sudan is closely correlated with that of P. orientalis. Only 20% of individually analysed female sandflies had significant amounts of sugars present suggesting that P. orientalis either digest their sugar meal quickly or do not require regular sugar meals. Interestingly, the sugars present in the males were significantly different to those found in the females, indicating that they had fed on different sugar sources. There was evidence that fruit sugars from Balanites aegyptiaca, Combretum kordofanum and aphid or coccid honeydew are utilized by male and female P. orientalis. There was evidence to indicate that female P. orientalis feeds directly on honeydew. There was no evidence to indicate that direct feeding on leaves is a typical source for the sugar meal. There was no melizitose and only a very small amount of turanose present in the male, suggesting that honeydew was not an important sugar source for males.     

Salivary proteins and glycoproteins in phlebotomine sandflies of various species, sex and age

Salivary gland proteins were studied in sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) by electrophoretic techniques. In Phlebotomus duboscqi Neveu-Lemaire the protein concentration was about 30 times higher in females than in males. SDS PAGE revealed eight major bands of 29-62 kDa in salivary gland extracts (SGE) from females, whereas only one band of 57kDa was detected in males. The number of protein components in SGE gradually increased with the age of females. In P. papatasi (Scopoli) the typical electrophoretic pattern was reached in 3-5 days after imago emergence, depending on the temperature at which females were maintained. All major protein components of the female SGE were present in the content of glands. Female SGE were compared in seven colonies of five Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia species; electrophoretic profiles distinguished between species and even between colonies of different geographical origin. In general, the highest variability of major protein components was observed in the 38-48kDa region. Four colonies of the subgenus Phlebotomus (P. duboscqi and P. papatasi) possessed common mobility polypeptides, the highest similarity was found between two colonies of P. papatasi. Other species tested significantly differed, specific prominent bands of 33, 35 and 38kDa were found in P. halepensis Theodor, P. perniciosus Newstead and Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva), respectively. Glycoproteins in SGE of Lu. longipalpis and P. duboscqi females were identified and analysed using blotting with five lectin conjugates. Specific reaction of lectins ConA and WGA revealed the complex type of N-glycans in the 48 and 53-54kDa glycoproteins present in both species. Similar glycosylation was detected in species-specific bands of the 57-60 and 65-67 kDa in P. duboscqi and Lu. longipalpis, respectively. The high mannose type of glycosylation was found in the 20 and 39 kDa polypeptides of Lu. longipalpis and the 40-42 kDa polypeptides of P. duboscqi. Innate lectin activity specific for aminosugars was detected in SGE of P. duboscqi females using haemagglutination tests with rabbit erythrocytes.     

Honeydew of aphids as a source of sugar for Phlebotomus ariasi

Wild-caught Phlebotomus ariasi Tonnoir, starved until their sugar meals had been digested, were caged for 24 h with plants or plants infested with aphids and then tested for fructose, a constituent of plant sap. No evidence was found that the flies took sap directly from nine types of plants present in their habitat. About two-thirds of flies caged with oak (Quercus ilex L.) infested with an aphid [Lachnus roboris (L.)] and about a fifth kept with leaves of the french bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) infested with an aphid took honeydew. Experiments with three other aphid species gave negative results. Of sandflies caught in an oak tree infested with aphids, half of the females and three-quarters of the males contained fructose. Tests on females caught in a house and grouped according to state of engorgement showed that, having taken blood, the females stop taking sugar until the bloodmeal is completely digested. It is predicted that honeydews are important in the development of Leishmania infantum Nicolle in the gut of P. ariasi.     

Mitochondrial and Wolbachia markers for the sandfly Phlebotomus papatasi: little population differentiation between peridomestic sites and gerbil burrows in Isfahan province, Iran

In Iran, Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the main vector of Leishmania major Yakimoff & Schokhor (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), the causative agent of rural zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. This sandfly is abundant both in villages and in the burrows of the main reservoir host, the gerbil Rhombomys opimus (Licht.) (Rodentia: Gerbillidae). Populations of P. papatasi were sampled from the edges of villages in Isfahan province, using CDC miniature light traps in peridomestic sites and sticky papers placed at the entrances to gerbil burrows. Single peridomestic sites in two northern provinces were also sampled. Individual sandflies were characterized by PCR amplification and sequencing of fragments of their mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and of the wsp gene of endosymbiotic Wolbachia pipientis Hertig (alpha-Proteobacteria: Rickettsiaceae). The distributions of the haplotypes of these two maternally inherited genes were analysed to assess the population differentiation of P. papatasi, knowledge of which will be needed for planning control measures. For the first time these markers were used to characterize P. papatasi from gerbil burrows, and they indicated the absence not only of sympatric cryptic species but also of any long-term differentiation of lineages in different habitats. A single lineage of cytochrome b haplotypes was found, and both sexes in all populations had a high infection rate of the same A-group strain of Wolbachia (wPap). The distributions of cytochrome b haplotypes were consistent with females dispersing more than males, which has been reported for P. papatasi in other countries. The widespread distribution of wPap suggests that Wolbachia could be used to spread transgenes between populations of P. papatasi in different habitats.     

Entomological and parasitological study on phlebotomine sandflies in central and northern Albania

An entomological survey was carried out in two districts of central (Kruje) and northern (Lezhe) Albania. Six collecting sites, showing a variety of diurnal resting sites, were monitored for adult sandflies from June through October 2002. Flies were collected with CDC miniature light traps, sticky traps and mechanical or hand aspirators in peridomestic sites, in bedrooms and inside cow barns, chicken coops and pigpens. All collecting sites monitored were found positive for sandflies. A total of 849 specimens were caught (29.2% males) belonging to five Phlebotomus species. Phlebotomus neglectus (75.6%) was the most abundant species followed by P. perfiliewi (14.4%), P. papatasi (4.6%), P. tobbi (3.6%) and P. similis (1.8%). The first adult of P. neglectus appeared on June 11 and the last one was collected on October 16. The highest density for this species was observed at the end of July. A total of 111 blood-fed females were caught from the two areas studied. P. neglectus was the only species found blood fed in Lezhe and the same species was prevalent (56.1%) in Kruje followed by P. perfiliewi (30.3%), P. tobbi (10.6%); P. papatasi was represented by only two specimens. Blood meal origin was determined in 45/66 (68.2%) of the females tested from Kruie district. P. neglectus was found fed on four hosts, showing the following feeding patterns: cow (71.4%), dog (117.1%), chicken (5.7%) and human (5.7%); P. perfiliewi was found fed on cow (80.0%) and chicken (20.0%), P. tobbi on cow (50.0%), chicken (25.0%) and dog (25.0%). One specimen of P. papatasi was found fed on cow. When such prevalences were analysed by the available biomass for each host present at the collecting site, P. neglectus resulted to be an opportunistic feeder rather than exhibiting preferences for any specific animal. PCR analysis of 39 P. neglectus from the Lezhe district gave negative results for the presence of Leishmania DNA.     

Entomological survey of sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae) in the province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo)]

A survey on phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae) was carried out in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo region (Italy). Ten collecting sites at altitudes between 700 and 1,070 m a.s.l., produced a total of 324 specimens (81.1% males), 72.86% being Phlebotomus perniciosus, 3.08% P. mascittii, 0.30% P. papatasi and 23.76% Sergentomyia minuta. The collecting sites at 1,070, 950 and 775 m a.s.l. are the highest levels recorded in Italy for P. perniciosus, P. mascittii and P. papatasi, respectively. P. perfiliewi, the proven vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in the Abruzzo region (Maroli et al., 1987) was absent. The probable role of P. perniciosus in the transmission of the sporadic CL cases reported from the area is discussed.     

Cellulase Activity of Leishmania major in the Sandfly Vector and in Culture

ABSTRACT. The secretion of cellulose-degrading enzymes by Leishmania promastigotes in culture and in the sandfly vector was demonstrated. Two types of activity of cellulase enzyme-complexes were measured: endoglucanases, which randomly cleave cellulose chains and cellobioydrolases, which remove cellobiose from the nonreducing end of the molecule. The assays demonstrated that enzymes with these activities were secreted into the culture medium by Leishmania major, L. donovani , and L. braziliensis . These activities were also found in cultures of Sauroleishmania agamae, Leptomonas seymouri, Herpetomonas muscarum, Crithidia fasciculata and Trypanosoma brucei brucei that had a relatively low endoglucanase activity. Both endoglucanase and cellobiohydrolase activities were found in the gut of L. major-infected Phlebotomus papatasi , while gut preparations of uninfected sandflies had only cellobiohydrolase activity. The similar growth of L. major parasites in medium supplemented with either cellulose or glucose suggests these parasites can utilize cellulose.     

Host-specific Wolbachia strains in widespread populations of Phlebotomus perniciosus and P. papatasi (Diptera: Psychodidae), and prospects for driving genes into these vectors of Leishmania

A single strain of Wolbachia (alpha-proteobacteria, Rickettsiales) was found in widespread geographical populations of each of two Phlebotomus species, within which there was no indication of 'infectious speciation'. The two strains were identified by sequencing a fragment of wsp (a major surface protein gene), amplified by polymerase chain reaction from DNA extracted from the body parts of individual sandflies. Infection rates were high in the males and females of both sandflies, but they were lower for the B-group wPrn strain of Wolbachia in Phlebotomus perniciosus Newstead (60.3% overall) than for the A-group wPap strain in P. papatasi (Scopoli) (81.7%). Infections were frequent in the thorax, where Leishmania develops infective forms, as well as in the abdomen, where Wolbachia must infect the reproductive tissues to ensure its vertical transmission. These findings were related to knowledge of the population biology of Wolbachia in other insects, leading to the conclusion that this endosymbiont could be useful for driving transgenes through wild populations of both sandflies. This will require characterizing the cytoplasmic incompatibility phenotypes of Wolbachia-sandfly combinations, as well as estimating for them the incidence of paternal transmission and the fidelity of maternal transmission. Paternal transmission is one explanation for finding a single Wolbachia strain associated with all mitochondrial haplotypes and lineages of each sandfly species. However, this distribution pattern could also result from multiple horizontal transmissions or the failure of wsp to provide strain markers.     

Further evidence that deltamethrin-impregnated collars protect domestic dogs from sandfly bites

In many foci of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL), domestic dogs are important reservoir hosts of the causative Leishmania parasites transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae). We tested the protective value of impregnated dog collars (20 g plastic containing deltamethrin 800 mg ai) against Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) sandflies in Iran. For each assay, the dog was sedated and caged in a net with 70-100 wild-caught sandflies overnight (23.30-06.30 hours). Dogs wearing the collars were bitten by approximately 80% fewer sandflies than before collars were fitted, i.e. 51% vs. 11% of hungry female flies exposed. Sandfly mortality rates following 20 h exposure to dogs with collars (18%) or without collars (17%) were not significantly different. Effects of collars were tested when dogs had been wearing them for 8 days. A previous trial against the sandfly P. perniciosus Newstead in France, using smaller dogs, showed that effects of such collars were not fully realized until they had been worn for 2 weeks or more; they remained effective for at least 8 months and killed significant proportions of the sandflies exposed. Present results with P. papatasi, confirming that this simple device provides effective protection against sandflies, are considered sufficiently encouraging to justify a community-wide field trial of deltamethrin-impregnated dog collars against ZVL vector sandflies in Iran.     

Movement of Aedes aegypti following a sugar meal and its implication in the development of control strategies in Durán,Ecuador

We evaluated how the presence of sugar sources impacted the distribution of Aedes aegypti in different habitats in Durán , Ecuador. Land cover and normalized difference vegetation index maps were used to guide a random point sampling routine to select study grids (30 m × 30 m) in low vegetation (LV) and high vegetation (HV). Five individual plants, at one home in the LV and HV grid, were treated with a different colored, non‐attractive, 60% sucrose solution to determine mosquito feeding and movement. Sugar alone is not attractive to mosquitoes, so spraying vegetation with a dyed sugar solution can be used for visual determination of sugar feeding. Outdoor collections using BG sentinel traps and indoor collections using aspirators were conducted at the treatment home and with collection points at 20, 40, and 60 m surrounding the treatment home for three consecutive days. A total of 3,245 mosquitoes in two genera, Aedes and Culex, was collected. The proportion of stained Ae. aegypti females was 56.8% (510/898) and 0% for males. For Culex, 63.9% (248/388) females and 36.1% (140/388) males were collected stained. Aedes aegypti and Culex spp. were found up to 60 m stained in both LV and HV grids. Significantly more stained females Ae. aegypti were found inside homes compared to females and males of Culex spp. in both habitats. This study identifies that outdoor sugar feeding is a common behavior of Ae. aegypti and can be targeted as a control strategy in urban habitats in Latin America.     

Sandfly midgut lectin: effect of galactosamine on Leishmania major infections

Galactosamine, which has been shown in vitro to specifically inhibit sandfly midgut lectin activity, was fed to Phlebotomus duboscqi females with blood containing promastigotes of Leishmania major . Non-inhibitory sugar, galactose, was added in controls. For two strains of L. major (LV 561 and Neal-P), galactosamine substantially enhanced the establishment of infection in the sandfly posterior midgut and significantly increased parasite loads after defaecation, but did not affect anterior migration of Leishmania . On day 3 post-infection, most infections in galactosamine-fed sandfly groups (92% of LV 561 and 100% of Neal-P) were found in the ectoperitrophic space of the posterior midgut, whereas most infections in the galactose-fed groups of sandflies (85% in LV 561 and 96% in Neal-P) were restricted to the peritrophic sac. On day 9, however, the proportion of infections colonizing the stomodeal valve was similar in both dietary groups of sandflies for both strains of L. major . The addition of galactosamine prevented the decrease of parasite loads which occurred in controls between days 3 and 6 post-infection. On days 6 and 9, heavy infections were observed almost exclusively in galactosamine-fed females. Differences between groups were more pronounced for the Neal-P strain, which normally developed poorly in sandflies. Morphology of L. major LV 561 was not affected by galactosamine supplement: the lengths of parasite body and flagellum were similar in both sandfly groups. Two hypotheses are considered for the role of sandfly midgut lectin in Leishmania development in the vector midgut. One proposes that sandfly lectin kills Leishmania promastigotes, the other assumes that lectin blocks LPG-mediated binding of promastigotes to sandfly midgut microvilli.     

Honeydew sugars in wild-caught Phlebotomus ariasi detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC)

Phlebotomus ariasi Tonnoir sandflies were caught in light traps hung in oak trees and in a house in the Cévennes focus of leishmaniasis in the South of France. The flies were cryopreserved either immediately on removal from the traps, or after starvation for 6-7 days, or after 6-7 days starvation followed by exposure to oak infested with the aphid genera Lachnus or Thelaxes. After transportation to the laboratory, the sandflies were thawed and aqueous extracts of the crushed flies were analysed for their carbohydrate content using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). Starved female sandflies lacked significant amounts of any saccharides. Four types of sugar, melezitose and its hydrolysis products turanose, glucose and fructose, were observed in flies which had been starved previously and then placed with Lachnus infested oak. The results also indicate the presence of hydrolysis products of melezitose: (a) in flies previously starved and placed with Thelaxes infested oak, (b) in P.ariasi cryopreserved direct from the light traps hung in oak trees infested with Lachnus and Thelaxes, and (c) flies caught in a house. Unidentifiably small quantities of a trisaccharide were also detected in the latter groups of flies. In previous tests, sugars were detected in P.ariasi after their exposure to aphid-infested oak (Quercus ilex L.), but not when P.ariasi females were exposed to washed oak leaves without aphids. The results indicate that P.ariasi feed on melezitose and/or turanose, the main local source of which is aphid honeydew. A better understanding of sugar meal sources of sandflies using HPLC and GC techniques will assist in our understanding of sandfly/Leishmania relationships, parasite transmission and epidemiology.     

DNA hybridizations on squash-blotted sandflies to identify both Phlebotomus papatasi and infecting Leishmania major

Epidemiological field studies on leishmaniasis have been hampered by the laborious, and often inefficient, methods used to assess the rates of infection of sandfly vectors (Diptera; Phlebotominae) by species of the causative disease organisms, protozoal parasites of the genus Leishmania (Kinetoplastida; Trypanosomatidae). We report the rapid and accurate identification of both sandfly vector (Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus) papatasi (Scopoli] and infecting Leishmania major Yakimov & Schokov by DNA hybridizations to squash-blotted sandflies. Large numbers of whole (infected) sandflies can be quickly squashed on to nylon hybridization filters and (following standard procedures) the filter-bound DNA can be hybridized sequentially to cloned, multicopy genomic sequences that are specific for species of Leishmania (kinetoplast DNA) or for the sandfly (ribosomal (r) DNA). Our sandfly probe consists of a 3.2 kb fragment of the intergenic 'non-transcribed' spacer of rDNA of P. papatasi that we have detected only in this species: it is present in all six geographically isolated populations tested (from Tunisia through to India) but cannot be detected in the morphologically similar P. (Phlebotomus) duboscqi Neveu-Lemaire, the vector of Leishmania major south of the Sahara; it also cannot be detected in Phlebotomus species of the subgenera Larroussius and Paraphlebotomus that together with P. papatasi are the dominant man-biting sandflies in north African foci of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis, where (as in many arid regions of western Asia) P. papatasi is believed to be the sole vector of L. major.     

Aspects of the bionomics of Phlebotomus sergenti sandflies from an endemic area of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Aleppo Governorate, Syria

Aspects of the bionomics of phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) were studied from June to November 2005 in three foci of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, where the agent Leishmania tropica (Wright) (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) is transmitted by Phlebotomus sergenti Parrot. Syria has been designated by the World Health Organization as one of four countries in the Old World where cutaneous leishmaniasis is hyperendemic, but little is known about the biology of local vector populations. Standard collections by sticky traps showed two peaks in density, in June and late August. In total, 1840 sandflies were caught, comprising five species: Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) (68.0%); P. sergenti (25.4%); Sergentomyia minuta (Rondani) (6.4%); Phlebotomus tobbi Adler & Theodor (0.1%), and Phlebotomus mascittii canaaniticus Adler & Theodor (0.1%). Similar numbers of P. sergenti were caught indoors (246 specimens) and outdoors (222), whereas P. papatasi was significantly more abundant indoors (1096 specimens) than outdoors (156) (χ² = 241, P < 0.01). In total, 212 blood-fed females were tested for host blood determination, of which 176 (83.0%) reacted with anti-species reagent. Results from 20 P. sergenti suggest that this species is an opportunistic feeder, imbibing human, ovine, avian, bovine and feline blood, although more bloodmeals were taken from humans and cattle than expected in relation to the relative proportions of potential hosts present (the forage ratio, FR). The bionomics of P. sergenti are discussed in relation to the inefficacy of control campaigns based on indoor spraying with residual insecticides that have been implemented by the Syrian Ministry of Health to control the epidemics of ACL in the Aleppo Governorate.     

Structure and function of the spermathecal complex in the phlebotomine sandflyPhlebotomus papatasi Scopoli (Diptera: Psychodidae): II. Post-copulatory histophysiological changes during the gonotrophic cycle

The spermathecal complex ofPhlebotomus papatasi Scopoli (Diptera: Psychodidae) undergoes histological and physiological changes during its gonotropic cycle. The present histochemical study revealed a mucopolysaccharide secretory mass in the spermathecae of the newly emerged sandfly. Sperm competition occurs when two or more males compete to fertilize an ovum in the female reproductive tract. In this study, spermatophores of two or more competing males were deposited at the base of the spermathecal ducts, which originate from the female bursa copulatrix. This suggests that females play a role in sperm displacement, which is defined as any situation in which the last male to mate with a female fertilizes maximum number her eggs. A blood meal ingested by the female for ovary development and egg laying stimulates the release of sperm from the spermatophore. The spermatozoa then migrate to the lumen of the spermatheca. The ultrastructure of spermatozoa comprises a head with double-layered acrosomal perforatorium, an elongate nucleus, and the axoneme with a 9 + 9 + 0 flagellar pattern. This axomene differs from the aflagellate axoneme of other Psychodinae. Morphological changes, such as the casting off of the acrosomal membrane, and histological changes in the spermatophore are also described. Mating plugs that have been described previously in sandflies appear to be artefacts. Females ofP. papatasi may be inseminated more than once during each gonotrophic cycle, and additional inseminations may be necessary for each cycle. The relationships between the volumes of the sperm and the spermatheca were calculated to determine sperm utilization and fecundity ofP. papatasi. As the females ofP. papatasi mate polyandrously, the anatomical and physiological complexity of the spermathecal complex may be related to post-copulatory sexual selection.     

Behavior of triatomines (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) vectors of Chagas' disease. III. Influence of the number of matings on the fecundity and fertility of Panstrongylus megistus (Burm., 1835) in the laboratory

A study of the effect of mating in the fecundity and fertility of females of P. megistus fed on pigeon blood every 14 days, was carried out in the laboratory. Two groups were constituted: I - females which mated only once; II - females which stayed always with the males. Only 56.7% of group I females laid fertile eggs, while as much as 90% of group II females laid fertile eggs. The duration of the fertile oviposition was greater in the females which stayed always with the males. Some females of this group were able to mate up to seven times throughout their life-span. This fact render useless sterile males in the control of these insects.     

Feeding and survival of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae on plants growing in Kenya

The propensity of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae Giles (Diptera: Culicidae) to ingest sugars from various plants, and subsequent survival rates, were assessed with laboratory-reared males and females offered eight species of plants commonly cultivated and/or growing wild in western Kenya. In cages (no-choice bioassay), mosquitoes given the opportunity to feed on castorbean (Ricinus communis L.) had the longest survival times (mean and median survival time of 6.99 +/- 0.23 and 5.67 +/- 0.17 days, respectively), comparable to mosquitoes given 6% glucose (mean and median survival time of 8.70 +/- 0.23 and 6.67 +/- 0.33 days, respectively). Survival rates of An. gambiae were low on the other plants, comparable to mosquitoes given only water. Three plants: sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.), wild sage (Lantana camara L.) and castorbean provided levels of sugar ingestion by both sexes of An. gambiae detectable using the cold anthrone method, showing a positive correlation between median survival and sugar consumption (Spearman rank correlation coefficient = 0.905, P < 0.0001). Equal numbers of males and females were released in an enclosed semi-field screenhouse system containing a range of local plants, but no host for blood, and allowed to feed ad libitum: 6.7 +/- 0.5% (11/64) of those recaptured were found to contain detectable fructose (all females). Common plants are clearly a viable source of nutrition for adult female An. gambiae, as well as males, and may constitute and important resource for this important malaria vector.     

Bionomics of Phlebotomus papatasi (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an endemic focus of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in central Iran.

Following an epidemiological survey of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) in several villages of Badrood, a rural district north of the city of Natanz, central Iran, Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus) papatasi Scopoli were found to be naturally infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) major zymodeme MON-26. Sand flies were collected and dissected biweekly from rodent burrows from May to October 2001. Leptomonad infection rates varied between 6.7% and 22.0%, being greatest in September, coinciding with peak activity of P. papatasi, two-three months before the highest incidence of ZCL human cases in November-December. The leptomonad infection rate was 1.1% of the 94 P. papatasi captured indoors. In ELISA testing of 520 P. papatasi blood meals during Sept. 2001 and Aug. 2002, the proportion giving positive reactions for human, sheep, cow, goat, rodent, and bird were 31.2%, 69.6%, 63%, 38.8%, 24.7%, and 21.8%, respectively. This report thus incriminates P. papatasi as the vector of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in this part of Iran.