Experimental Colonization of Sand Flies (; Diptera: Psychodidae) by .

is a recently described species endemic to Peru, where it causes verruga peruana in humans. While the arthropod vector of transmission is unknown, human coinfections with suggest that phlebotomine sand flies are a vector. To address the hypothesis that sand flies are involved in the bacterium's transmission, sand flies were used as an infection model, together with green fluorescent protein-expressing . Results showed that bacterial infections were clearly established, limited to the anterior midgut of the female fly, and maintained for roughly 7 days. At 3-7 days postinfection, a prominent microcolony of aggregated bacteria was observed in the anterior midgut, immediately distal to the stomodeal valve of the esophagus. In contrast, eggs, diuretic fluid, feces, and other tissues were not infected. These results suggest that certain sand fly species within the endemic zone for may play a role in the bacterium's maintenance and possibly in its transmission to humans.