DISTINGUISHING THE FEMALES OF PHLEBOTOMUS-(SYNPHLEBOTOMUS)-MARTINI AND P-(S)-CELIAE (DIPTERA, PHLEBOTOMINAE), VECTORS OF VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS IN SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

The inability to distinguish the females of East African Synphlebotomus spp. (P. martini Parrot, P. vansomerenae Heisch, Guggisberg & Teesdale and P. celiae Minter) was a major constraint on epidemiological studies of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the region. An intensive morphometric study of two sympatric Synphlebotomus spp. (P. martini and P. celiae) in a VL focus of southern Ethiopia based on both isofemale broods and wild-caught parent specimens (identified by their male progenies) showed that laboratory-bred females were separable by eight morphological characters, but only two (labrum length and labrum length/wing length ratio) successfully distinguished the wild-caught parent females of the two species; the latter were used to identify wild-caught Synphlebotomus females from southern Ethiopia (Aba Roba) during subsequent epidemiological studies. A further difference between the two species was seen in the length of the spermathecal ducts.