title: An improvised method of laboratory colonization of Phlebotomus papatasi, the vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis.
abstract: A cyclic colony of P. papatasi was successfully established, using wild caught females. The major obstacle in the colonization was infestation of fungus, which was solved when bentonite, a dehydrant was mixed in the larval diet i.e., powdered and sterilized faecal pellets of rabbit. The average duration of development from egg to adult was 46.41 +/- 3.26 days. Females readily engorged on mouse, which was kept immobilized inside restrainer cages Majority of the fed females laid viable eggs, when confined in improvised styro-foam humidity chambers and survived after oviposition. In this process a stable, cyclic colony was established and it is now in F39 generation.
authors.affiliation: Vector Control Research Centre (ICMR), Pondicherry, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Viswam
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Panicker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004772:Entomology / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000254:growth & development*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000254:growth & development*