ABSTRACT
The vectorial competence of Phlebotomus papatasi for two old world Leishmania species, L. major and L. tropica was investigated. Phlebotomus papatasi originally collected from Suez Governorate, were membrane fed on homogenized hamster's lesion infected with L. major, MHOM/EG/06/RTC-63, and L. tropica, MGER/EG/06/RTC-74 identified from patients with suspected CL in Northern Sinai, Egypt. Fed flies were dissected at different time intervals and examined microscopically to determine the infection rate and parasite intensity. The feeding rate of P. papatasi on L. major [58.69%] was found higher than on L tropica [45.99%]. Infection rate with L. major [60.19%] was significantly higher than that with L. tropica [39.73%]. Transmission by bites in case of P. papatasi/L. tropica failed. A characteristic L. major lesion was developed on the foot pads region 120 days post infective bites on healthy hamster. It is therefore concluded that P. papatasi is a much more effective vector for L. major than for L. tropica