Insect Sci. Applic. Vol. 13, No. 5, pp. 731-735, 1992 Printed in Kenya. All rights reserved 0191-9040/92 $3.00 + 0.00 © 1992 ICIPE—ICIPE Science Press PHYTOPHAGY OFSERGENTOMYIA INGRAMI—l. FEEDING RATES J. B. KADDU, M. J. MUTINGA*, S. NOKOE and R. M. MUSYOKI The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), P. O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya (Received 14 December 1989; revised 1 February 1992) Abstract —The ability of a Kenyan sandfly species, Sergentomyia ingrami, to feed on various species of native or indigenous and exotic or introduced plants of Kenya was investigated using the Anthrone test. Some flies contained more sugar than others when they were tested after exposure to the plants. Key Words: Sandfly, Phlebotomus, Sergentomyia ingrami, phytophagy, feeding rate Resume—Le pouvoir d'un phlebotome Kenyan Sergentomyia ingrami de se nourrir sur diverses especes de plantes indigenes et exotiques du Kenya etait etudie en utilisant le test d'Anthrone. Quelques phlebotomes contenaient plus de sucre que les autres lorsqu'ils etaient testes apres etre exposes aux plantes. INTRODUCTION The diet of sandflies is likely to affect the development of Leishmania, the causative agent of leishmaniasis in the vector, and thus influence the epidemiology of the disease. Sugars and other plant-derived materials are part of the diet of male and female sandflies (Kirk and Lewis, 1951; Lewis and Domoney, 1966; Chaniotis, 1974; Young et al., 1980; Yuval and Schlein, 1986; Warburg and Schlein, 1986). They also appear to influence the development of Leishmania donovani in the sandfly Phlebotomus argentipes (Smith et al., 1940, 1941; Swaminath et al., 1942; Shortt, 1945) and Leishmania infantum in Phlebotomus ariasi (Killick-KendrickandKillick-Kendrick, 1987; Moore etal., 1987). The main source of sugars for sandflies in the wild is controversial. Some reports showed that sandflies in nature derive their sugar meals from honeydew of aphids (Killick-Kendrick and Killick- Kendrick, 1987). Others indicate that the sandfly Phlebotomus papatasi, under laboratory conditions, feeds on plants and secretions of aphids and coccids (Schlein and Warburg, 1986). Whether or not sandflies *To whom correspondence should be addressed. in nature derive sugar meals directly from plants and/ or indirectly via honeydew, the information is valuable in understanding factors which possibly influence sandfly populations and perhaps their relationship to disease transmission. We have investigated the ability of the Kenyan sandfly, Sergentomyia ingrami, to feed on various species of indigenous and exotic plants of Kenya. A preliminary report was made by Kaddu et al. (1988), and a detailed statistical analysis of the results will be published elsewhere. MATERIALS AND METHODS Teneral laboratory reared 1-2-day-old sandflies (S. ingrami) were caged in 20 x 15 x 15 cm perspex sandfly feeding cages (Beach et al., 1983). Shoots of plants were cut off and rinsed in distilled water several times to remove any materials such as honeydew and dust on the surface. They were blotted and the cut ends were put in water in bottles. The mouth of each container was partly sealed with parafilm and the bottle containing the plant was put into a cage containing sandflies. The cages were maintained in an incubator without light at 26°Cand 80-90% r.h. for 16 hr starting at,if7QQ hr. For each 731