The susceptibility of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz and Neiva), Diptera, Psychodidae, to artificial infection with three viruses of the Phlebotomus fever group

Abstract

The susceptibility of a laboratory colony of Lutzomyia longipalpis to artificial infection with three viruses of the Phlebotomus fever group—Sicilian sandfly fever, Naples sandfly fever and Pacui—was tested. Sandflies were infected either by intrathoracic inoculation or by the use of a membrane feeding technique.

None of the three viruses multiplied in L. longipalpis after membrane feeding and only Pacui multiplied in L. longipalpis after inoculation.

Infected females were able to transmit Pacui after an extrinsic incubation period of five days. Both membrane feeding and intrathoracic inoculation are considered to be useful techniques for transmission studies on viral and other disease agents carried by sandflies.