title: Phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Khandwa and Hoshangabad Districts of Madhya Pradesh, India.
abstract: A survey of Phlebotomine sandflies undertaken in April 1985 in Hoshangabad and Khandwa districts of Madhya Pradesh yielded 332 sandflies on 204 sticky traps. Sandflies were collected from feral habitats of termite hills, rodent burrows and tree holes and indoor habitats of human dwellings and cattle sheds. The sandflies belonged to eight species viz., Phlebotomus argentipes, P. papatasi, P. colabaensis, Sergentomyia clydei, S. babu, S. bailyi, S. punjabaensis, and S. indica. Among them P. colabaensis, S. clydei and S. indica were found only in feral habitats, whereas P. argentipes and P. papatasi and other Sergentomyia species collected were found in domestic as well as feral habitats. Termite hills and rodent borrows were the most productive habitats, an observation accounted for by the predilection of sandflies to seek microhabitats offering high humidities and equable temperatures to avoid high summer temperature and low relative humidities of outside environment. Sandfly collection by sticky traps is recommended as an objective method of collection.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kaul
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003625:Data Collection; D004463:Ecology; D006813:Humidity; D007194:India; D007303:Insect Vectors; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000145:classification*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods; D013696:Temperature