Sugars in sandflies.

The evidence for the acquisition of different types of sugars by wild caught sandflies is reviewed and the recent results summarised. Studies on Phlebotomus ariasi, P. perfiliewi and P. perniciosus in the Mediterranean region has shown that these sandflies take honeydew derived sugars from aphids or coccids; in a similar study in the New World, Lutzomyia peruensis has also been shown to have taken sugar from such sources. The use of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) as a technique for identification of such sugars is used as a more sensitive method for identifying trisaccharides and disaccharides; this method should supersede the van Handel cold anthrone test for sugar identification which only identifies the presence of fructose moieties. The possible significance of sugar feeding in the biology of sandflies and for the transmission of Leishmania are discussed.