title: Attraction of phlebotomine sand flies to baited and non-baited horizontal surfaces.
abstract: Female phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) transmit leishmaniasis as they engorge on vertebrate blood required for egg production. Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus) papatasi (Scopoli, 1786), the vector of Leishmania major (Yakimoff & Schokhor, 1914), the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) were not attracted to large horizontal sticky traps (LHSTs) unless these were baited with CO2 derived from dry ice or from fermenting sugar/yeast mixture (SYM). Attraction of P. papatasi males by CO2 may indicate their tendency to mate on or near the blood-host. Male P. (Larroussius) orientalis (Parrot, 1936), the vector of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Ethiopia, were collected on LHSTs in large numbers. Although the number of females remained low, augmentation with SYM, increased the number of females by 800% while the number of males increased by only about 40%. Apparently, male P. orientalis utilize the horizontal surfaces for forming mating swarms. P. (Paraphlebotomus) sergenti (Parrot, 1917), is the vector of CL caused by Leishmania tropica. Although approximately twice as many P. sergenti males were caught on LHSTs as females, it appears that LHSTs were attractive to both sexes. Use of SYM baits is potentially useful for monitoring phlebotomine sand flies in places where dry ice is unobtainable or prohibitively expensive. LHSTs can provide an inexpensive alternative to CDC traps for monitoring some species of sand flies. Unfortunately, the numbers of female sand flies, crucial for estimating transmission of Leishmania, is usually low on LHSTs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Kuvin Centre for Study of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, The Hebrew University - Hadassah Medical School, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Aviad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moncaz
authors.forename: Araya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gebresilassie
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kirstein
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Faiman
authors.forename: Teshome
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gebre-Michael
authors.forename: Asrat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hailu
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warburg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000494:pharmacology; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010675:Pheromones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D010675:Pheromones; C010411:insect attractants; D002245:Carbon Dioxide