THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIES OF LEISHMANIA ROSS, 1903 IN LUTZOMYIA-LONGIPALPIS (LUTZ AND NEIVA, 1912)

The development of four isolates of Leishmania from foci American cuta neous leishmaniasis was studied in Lutzomyia longipalpis. The suggesti on that the differences in the development of the Leishmania in the in vertebrate host are of great toxonomic significance was confirmed. The pattern of development of three strains was typical of parasites of t he subgenus Leishmania, the other was similar to Leishmania of the sub genus Viannia. The identification of the strains using other criteria is in agreement with biological characterization. The results show tha t the morphological and morphometric study of promastigotes do not cle arly define the taxonomic position of the parasites but other studies are needed to confirm this.