Fluid mechanics of bloodmeal uptake by Leishmania-infected sandflies

The fluid mechanics of blood flow in the pharynx and cibarium of Phlebotomus papatasi are described using a simple static model. The flow is characterized as viscous laminar. The Hagen-Poiseuille equation is used to assess the effects of attached parasites in the foregut of Leishmania-infected sandflies on blood flow. The reductions in flow rate imposed by parasite colonization of the pharynx and cibarium will reduce the ability of an infected fly to take a bloodmeal, thus encouraging further probing, enhancing transmission. Regurgitation of the contents of the foregut is also possible. This will aid the deposition of infective forms from the foregut. Transmission by means of regurgitation of parasites from the midgut is considered unlikely.