Panamanian Lutzomyia (Diptera: Psychodidae) Host Attraction Profiles

A study was carried out for 50 weeks in a tropical forest near the Pacific Ocean entrance to the Panama Canal to observe the host preferences of Phlebotomine sand flies. Ten mineral oil traps were baited with caged animals in the groups Marsupialia, Chiroptera, Primates, Edentata, Rodentia, Carnivora, Aves, Reptilia, and Amphibia, and included 1 empty control cage. Lutzomyia vespertilionis showed a distinct preference for bats. The host selections of Lu. panamensis, Lu. olmeca bicolor and Lu. sanguinaria were not as distinctive as those of Lu. vespertilionis , but mammals of the order Rodentia attracted the greatest number of these species. Host selections by the 4 sand fly species are discussed in relation to transmission of Leishmania and Trypanosoma species. A substantial number of females of the 12 most common sand fly species collected in animal-baited traps were gravid, suggesting a need for a blood meal prior to oviposition. CDC light trap collections, used in conjunction with the animal-baited traps, provided sufficient data to plot the seasonal densities of the 10 most common sand fly species at the study site.