An improvised method of laboratory colonization of Phlebotomus papatasi, the vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

A cyclic colony of P. papatasi was successfully established, using wild caught females. The major obstacle in the colonization was infestation of fungus, which was solved when bentonite, a dehydrant was mixed in the larval diet i.e., powdered and sterilized faecal pellets of rabbit. The average duration of development from egg to adult was 46.41 +/- 3.26 days. Females readily engorged on mouse, which was kept immobilized inside restrainer cages Majority of the fed females laid viable eggs, when confined in improvised styro-foam humidity chambers and survived after oviposition. In this process a stable, cyclic colony was established and it is now in F39 generation.

Endurance to starvation by the immatures of Toxorhynchites splendens.

Studies on the endurance to starvation by the immatures of T. splendens showed that the III instar larvae survived longer than the I and II instar larvae. The IV instar larvae even in the absence of food pupated and emerged into adults. The irregular supply of food did not affect the perpetuation of the predator in the habitat.