Lutzomyia ovallesi (Diptera: Psychodidae) as a vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Venezuela.

In the search for vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Barro Negro forest, Duaca, Lara State, Venezuela, 4,864 wild-caught Lutzomyia females were dissected and examined for promastigotes. Natural infection was found in 25 (0.5%) Lu. ovallesi. By biological parameters and enzyme electrophoresis all isolates from Lu. ovallesi were indistinguishable from those obtained from humans and dogs in the same Region. The isoenzyme profile of these isolates appear to indicate that strains were a hybrid between Leishmania braziliensis and L. guyanensis.