The phlebotomine sand flies
Nyssomyia intermedia
(Lutz & Neiva, 1912) and
Nyssomyia neivai
(Pinto, 1926) are very close and may be involved in the transmission of
Leishmania
spp. Ross, 1903 in Brazil. The biology of the first laboratory-reared generations of these species, descended from insects captured in Além Paraíba (
N. intermedia) and Corinto (
N. neivai) in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, is described here. The captured females were fed on hamsters and maintained individually in rearing pots. Laboratory temperature and relative humidity were maintained at 25-26°C and 80% respectively. The productivity of the first generation of
N. intermedia was greater than that of
N. neivai, and its development time clearly shorter, particularly for the second and third larval instars.
