Sugars in sandflies
Molyneux, D.H.; Moore, J.; Maroli, M.
Parassitologia 33(Suppl): 431-436
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0048-2951 PMID: 1841240 Document Number: 375000
The evidence for the acquisition of different types of sugars by wild caught sandflies is reviewed and the recent results summarised. Studies on Phlebotomus ariasi, P. perfiliewi and P. perniciosus in the Mediterranean region have shown that these sandflies take honeydew-derived sugars from aphids or coccids; in a similar study in the New World, Lutzomyia peruensis has been shown to have taken sugar from such sources. It is suggested that HPLC should supercede the van Handel cold anthrone test for sugar identification (which only identifies the presence of fructose moieties). The possible significance of sugar feeding in the biology of sandflies and the transmission of Leishmania are discussed.