The Feeding Habits of Laboratory-Bred Lutzomyia Longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae)1

Abstract

Female sand flies from a laboratory colony of Lutzomyia longipalpis Lutz & Neiva were offered various meals through membranes and from free solutions. Their feeding behavior was compared with that observed on living hosts. Flies fed sucessfully through membranes; over 50% ingested nearnormal amounts of blood fluids. Host breath was needed to stimulate host/membrane searching activity, but warmth alone then stimulated probing. Ingestion was initiated more consistently through chick skin than Parafilm ‘M.’ The properties of the meal interacted with those of the membrane to maintain ingestion. Compared with the known membrane-feeding behavior of mosquitoes, that of L. longipalpis was unselective. Isotonic saline was ingested as avidly as whole blood through chick skin, and the addition of ATP to suspensions of serum proteins had no phagostimulatory effect. The method of feeding appears to be more important than the nature of the food in determining the destination of the meal in this sand fly. Food ingested through membranes was sent predominantly to the midgut, whereas that imbibed from free solutions was usually dispatched to the crop; a possible regulating mechanism is discussed. The effect of this control of food destination on the establishment of Leishmania in the fly is considered.