Abundances and nocturnal activities of phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in termite hills and animal burrows in Baringo District, Kenya.

The abundance of phlebotomine sandflies was studied in a leishmaniasis endemic area in Baringo District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya. This was based on sandfly behaviors at night in their natural habitats of termite hills and animal burrows. Sandflies were collected with an entry-exit trap which has a sieve fixed at the middle to control sandfly movements. Flies were trapped from 1800-0600 hours. Phlebotomus martini (Parrot) were significantly more abundant in termite hills than in animal burrows (P <0.05). Phlebotomus duboscqi (Neveu-Lemaire) were found to favour animal burrows more than termite hills (P <0.05). Nocturnal movements and activities showed that the majority of the sandflies were exiting from termite hills and animal burrows from 1800-2400 hours while from 2400-0600 hours, the majority of the sandflies were entering termite hills and animal burrows (P<0.05). Sergentomyia (Theodor) species showed mixed preferences for these two habitats. Sergentomyia schwetzi (Aldler, Theodor & Pam favoured termite hills more than animal burrows but S. clydei (Sinton) showed great preference for animal burrows. The nocturnal activities or preferences of habitats by phlebotomine sandflies have epidemiological significance in that control measures can be directed to these habitats with a certain degree of accuracy for the vectors of visceral and cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Kenya.