Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the most important vector of Leishmania major, and previous experiments revealed that Leishmania development in the sand fly midgut is significantly affected by temperature. Therefore, we maintained blood-fed P. papatasi females at 23 or 28 degrees C to understand the effect of temperature on bloodmeal digestion and developmental times of this sand fly. At the lower temperature, the metabolic processes were slower and developmental times were longer: defecation, oviposition, and egg hatch started later and took longer to complete. Also, the mortality of blood-fed females was significantly lower. The defecation of bloodmeal remains was delayed for 12-36 h at 23 degrees C compared with the group maintained at 28 degrees C. Such delay would provide more time for Leishmania to establish the midgut infection and could partially explain the increased susceptibility of P. papatasi to Leishmania major at 23 degrees C. In both experimental groups, blood-fed females laid similar numbers of eggs (mean 60 and 70, maximum 104 and 115 per female). Egg numbers were positively correlated with the amount of hematin excreted in feces of ovipositing females. In parallel experiments, autogeny was recorded in 8% of females. The autogenous egg batches were smaller (mean, 12; range, 1-39), but they all produced viable larvae.

Department of Parasitology Charles University Vinicna 7 128 44 Prague Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

Phlebotomus papatasi Antimicrobial Peptides in Larvae and Females and a Gut-Specific Defensin Upregulated by Leishmania major Infection

A clinical study to optimise a sand fly biting protocol for use in a controlled human infection model of cutaneous leishmaniasis (the FLYBITE study)

A novel MALDI-TOF MS-based method for blood meal identification in insect vectors: A proof of concept study on phlebotomine sand flies

Laboratory colonization and mass rearing of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae)

An increase of larval rearing temperature does not affect the susceptibility of Phlebotomus sergenti to Leishmania tropica but effectively eliminates the gregarine Psychodiella sergenti

Seasonal Dynamics of Phlebotomine Sand Fly Species Proven Vectors of Mediterranean Leishmaniasis Caused by Leishmania infantum

Comparison of Bloodmeal Digestion and the Peritrophic Matrix in Four Sand Fly Species Differing in Susceptibility to Leishmania donovani

Sergentomyia schwetzi is not a competent vector for Leishmania donovani and other Leishmania species pathogenic to humans

Visualisation of Leishmania donovani fluorescent hybrids during early stage development in the sand fly vector

The stage-regulated HASPB and SHERP proteins are essential for differentiation of the protozoan parasite Leishmania major in its sand fly vector, Phlebotomus papatasi

Leishmania major glycosylation mutants require phosphoglycans (lpg2-) but not lipophosphoglycan (lpg1-) for survival in permissive sand fly vectors

Peritrophic matrix of Phlebotomus duboscqi and its kinetics during Leishmania major development

Analysis of salivary transcripts and antigens of the sand fly Phlebotomus arabicus