Pharyngeal armature, an important morphometric tool for the taxonomic studies of Phlebotominae sandflies (Phlebotomidae: Diptera)

Pharyngeal armature is a reliable morphological feature for identifying and separating the female phlebotominae sandflies, pathogens of visceral leishmaniasis and dermal leishmaniasis and exist sympatrically in the main foci of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in India. The pyloric armature functions in the interference of undigested hematin in the blood and its closed peritrophic membrane, making it easier to pass through hindgut. The occurrence of this structure is very interesting because some Leishmania strains often find a place in the pylorus for Indian sandflies. Sandflies were collected using adhesive paper sheets and aspirators from active colonies in cracks, crevices and rat holes. Morphometric measurements were analyzed with 2075 sandflies. Pharyngeal armature and cibarium were studied for the accurate identification of sandflies. These taxonomic tools and morphological characters described in this study are useful methods for separation of closely related species of Phlebotominae sandflies and for epidemiological investigations of visceral leishmaniasis in India.