[Studies on the bionomics of Phlebotomus chinensis in mountain cave and its relation to control in northern Sichuan].

After a survey of the gonotrophic cycle of 5147 female Phlebotomus chinensis collected from the caves in the mountain area 1500 m above sea level in Nanping County, Sichuan Province where this sandfly was proved to be the typical predominant wild species living mostly in the wild cave at a very high density, a large cave was sprayed with alphamethrin at a dosage of 50 mg/m2 in July, 1993. As a result, the sandfly density dropped to zero spanning over a period of two peak seasons. The authors consider that the residual effect of alphamethrin as long enough to suppress sandfly density in the cave for at least two years, and stress that the spray is a favourable measure in all the year round in reducing the sandfly population density and preventing visceral leishmaniasis.