Courtship and mating by the sandfly Phlebotomus duboscqi, a vector of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Afrotropical region

Courtship behaviour of males of the Afrotropical sandfly Phlebotomus dubosc qi Neveu-Lemaire (Diptera: Psychodidae) involved mounting the female and cl asping her 'waist' with the male coxites placed between the female's thorax and abdomen. This behaviour, which we call 'piggy-backing', was preceded b y male wing beating, perhaps involving mate recognition and contact pheromo nes. It did not seem to be pre- or postcopulatory mate guarding. Piggy-back ing was attempted by P. duboscqi males on females of other species (P. papa tasi and P. perniciosus) and even on other male P. duboscqi. The majority o f female P. duboscqi piggy-backed by males were already inseminated, and mo st of the courting did not lead to copulation. This, coupled with the prese nce of a mating plug (semen) in each spermatheca of inseminated females, su ggests that female P. duboscqi are monogamous for at least the first gonotr ophic cycle. Male courtship with piggy-backing was more intense when female s could feed on a hamster than when a hamster was present but the females w ere denied access to the host. It is suggested that, when a hamster was ava ilable to the females, the conditions in the laboratory are similar to thos e in rodent holes, the natural habitat of P. duboscqi.