Breeding ecology of visceral leishmaniasis vector sandfly in Bihar state of India

Soil samples weighing 255.3 kg, collected from 50 villages of 5 visceral leishmaniasis (VL) endemic districts of Bihar state were examined for sandfly breeding, using the soil incubation method. Breeding of sandflies was detected in 46% of the villages and 7.3% of the soil samples examined. Intra-domestic soil was found to be infested with 2 species of sandflies, Phlebotomus argentipes Annandale and Brunetti and Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli). In comparison with human houses, P. argentipes was found to show greater propensity to breed in cattle sheds; breeding prevalences in villages and soil samples, for the species, were significantly higher in cattle sheds than in human houses. The preference for breeding sites by the sandflies appeared to be associated with the pH of the soil. P. argentipes thus preferred to breed in the alkaline soil of cattle shed, and P. papatasi in the soil with neutral pH, of human houses. The emergence of adult P. argentipes from soil samples was mainly observed from April to October.