Ecological aspects of American cutaneous leishmaniasis: 2. the artificial biotope as shelter for Psychodopygus intermedius and observations about feeding and reproduction under direct influence of natural physical factors

Abstract

Observations carried out in experimental hen-houses showed that Psycihodopygus intermedius are able to take shelter in them. The methodology consisted in making daytime catches and examining the feeding and blood digestion states, in terms of the time spent in the ecotope. The times of blood meals, complete digestion, oviposition, survival and mating under the direct influence of natural physical factors were also calculated. The epidemiological importance of the results consists in the new experimental evidence of the viability of leishmaniasis cutaneous transmission taking place within household environments.