Biology
The great gerbil, Rhombomys opimus, is a reservoir host for Leishmania parasites which cause cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans. Adult Phlebotomus papatasi sandflies are adbundant in and around the burrows of these rodents. © Yuriy Danilevsky (Wikipedia)
Lifecycle
Each female sandfly can develop more than 100 eggs, usually using blood-meal proteins.
They lay the eggs in moist soil or organic matter, which contains the food of the 4 instars of the mobile but legless larvae. This includes faeces in rodent burrows, where the adults:
- emerge from pupation
- rest during the day, in between their nocturnal dispersals in search of:
- blood meals
- sugar meals
- mates
- shelter
(See Parvizi et al., 2003 for a review)