Comparison of In Vivo Host Animals as Blood-Feeding Source for Laboratory Rearing of the Sandfly Vector Phlebotomus argentipes (Diptera: Psychodidae)

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or kala-azar is transmitted by parasite-infected sandflies. The female sandfly Phlebotomus argentipes Annandale & Brunetti (Diptera: Psychodidae) carries the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani (Kinetplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in its gut and injects the pathogen along with its saliva into the bloodstream of a human host. This article reports the successful setup of a very productive laboratory insectarium-based P. argentipes colony, by optimizing breeding conditions and choice of laboratory host animal for blood feeding of the female sandflies. The work also suggests that the source of blood feeding is a critical parameter for egg laying and maturation, which are essential for the maintenance of laboratory colonies of such hematophagous insects.