THE GENITAL ATRIUM AS A NEW CHARACTER FOR DISTINGUISHING PAROUS AND NULLIPAROUS NEOTROPICAL SANDFLIES

Changes in the appearance of the membrane delimiting the genital atriu m of Lutzomyia migonei are described for the first time. Dissections o f laboratory-bred females at different physiological stages (i.e. on e mergence, after a bloodmeal and after oviposition) revealed clear and constant differences between the membranes of the parous and nulliparo us flies. The state of the membrane can be used as an alternative meth od for accurately age-grading female sandflies. Dissection methods and a simplified technique to prepare parts of sandflies for examination in a scanning electron microscope are also presented.