Leishmania in Kenyan phlebotomine sandflies—I. Leishmania aethiopica in the midgut of naturally infected Phlebotomus pedifer

Ultrastructural studies were carried out on wild Kenyan sandflies (Phlebotomus pedifer) naturally infected with Leishmania aethiopica. The promastigotes were attached to structures resembling pieces of a peritrophic membrane. They were located amongst long microvilli and also deep in the cytoplasm of the gut cells. The factors which influence the invasion of the parasites into cells are not known and need to be investigated.