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Med Vet Entomol

Title:		"Courtship and mating by the sandfly Phlebotomus duboscqi, a vector of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Afrotropical region"
Author(s):		Valenta DT; Killick-Kendrick R; Killick-Kendrick M;
Address:		"Department of Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, UK. dvalenta@hotmail.com"
Journal Title:		Med Vet Entomol
Year:		2000
Volume:		14
Issue:		2
Page Number:		207 - 212
DOI:		10.1046/j.1365-2915.2000.00225.x
ISSN/ISBN:		0269-283X (Print) 0269-283X (Linking)
Abstract:		"Courtship behaviour of males of the Afrotropical sandfly Phlebotomus duboscqi Neveu-Lemaire (Diptera: Psychodidae) involved mounting the female and clasping her 'waist' with the male coxites placed between the female's thorax and abdomen. This behaviour, which we call 'piggy-backing', was preceded by male wing beating, perhaps involving mate recognition and contact pheromones. It did not seem to be pre- or postcopulatory mate guarding. Piggy-backing was attempted by P. duboscqi males on females of other species (P. papatasi and P. perniciosus) and even on other male P. duboscqi. The majority of female P. duboscqi piggy-backed by males were already inseminated, and most of the courting did not lead to copulation. This, coupled with the presence of a mating plug (semen) in each spermatheca of inseminated females, suggests that female P. duboscqi are monogamous for at least the first gonotrophic cycle. Male courtship with piggy-backing was more intense when females could feed on a hamster than when a hamster was present but the females were denied access to the host. It is suggested that, when a hamster was available to the females, the conditions in the laboratory are similar to those in rodent holes, the natural habitat of P. duboscqi"
Keywords:		"Animals Cricetinae Female *Insect Vectors Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/*transmission Male Phlebotomus/*physiology *Sexual Behavior, Animal Species Specificity;"
Notes:		"MedlineValenta, D T Killick-Kendrick, R Killick-Kendrick, M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2000/06/29 Med Vet Entomol. 2000 Jun; 14(2):207-12. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2915.2000.00225.x"