The colonisation of lutzomyia youngi and the putative role of free-living nematodes in the biology of phlebotomine sandfly larvae

Abstract

A closed colony of Lutzomyia youngi Murillo and Zeledón from the Venezuelan Andes was successfully established in the laboratory with a larval food containing two free-living nematodes (Coenorhabditis sp. and Aphelenchoides bicaudatus). This raises the question of the relationships between sandfly larvae and associated terrestrial fauna. © PRINCEPS Editions, Paris, 1997.