Follicular Development and Parity in Phlebotomine Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae)1

Abstract

Ovaries of laboratory-reared Phlebotomus papatasi, Lutiomyia longipalpis, and L. anthophora were examined to determine rates of autogenous or anautogenous oocyte development and to describe morphological changes in ovarioles before and after ovulation. Females of P. papatasi, having origins in India and Israel, produced eggs autogenously within 6 days after eclosion. If suitable hosts were available, these insects would also ingest blood during the 1st gonotrophic cycle. Females of both Lutzomyia species developed eggs 3–6 days after a blood meal. Dissections of 491 P. papatasi females, collected from human dwellings and animal shelters in Iran, revealed predominantly nulliparous specimens (94%) with oocytes at or beyond stage III in 161 individuals (33%). Of these, 87 (54%) had vertebrate blood in their midguts. Follicular relics were observed in both colonized and field-collected females.