Honeydew sugars in wild-caught Italian phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) as detected by high performance liquid chromatography

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Abstract
Phlebotomus perfiliewi perfiliewiParrott andPhlebotomus perniciosusNewstead (Diptera: Psychodidae,) known vectors ofLeishmania infantumwere caught in light traps in five different sites in Italy. Sandflies were cryopreserved and transported to the laboratory where they were thawed and aqueous extracts of the crushed flies were analysed for their carbohydrate content using high performance liquid chromatography. Several sugars were detected, including significant amounts of the trisaccharide melezitose, known to be available as a natural source from aphid or coccid honeydew. There was no difference between the analyses of sugar meals ofP. p. perfiliewifrom different sites within its range, or betweenP. p. perfiliewiandP. perniciosus.The results indicate that both males and females ofP. p. perfiliewiandP. perniciosusfeed on honeydew.