Schematic representation of the sand flies' life cycle. The sand fly life cycle comprises four major stages: eggs (orange background), larvae (four instars: green background), pupae (yellow background), and adults (blue background). In the latter two stages, different morphological features (highlighted within the circles) can be used to distinguish the gender. The most important characteristics with respect to each stage (sub-stage), are listed near the images, as are the average timings of development. Adapted from 7,130,131 . Courtesy NIAID.

Schematic representation of the sand flies' life cycle. The sand fly life cycle comprises four major stages: eggs (orange background), larvae (four instars: green background), pupae (yellow background), and adults (blue background). In the latter two stages, different morphological features (highlighted within the circles) can be used to distinguish the gender. The most important characteristics with respect to each stage (sub-stage), are listed near the images, as are the average timings of development. Adapted from 7,130,131 . Courtesy NIAID.