How I reproduce!

Here's some information on how I go about making babies!

I always reproduce asexually using binary fission while I'm inside a mammalian host. I'm a parasite, in case you didn't know.

As a trypanosomatid, L. major begins its life cycle in amastigote form in the midgut of the main vector, female sand flies. Once in the gut of the sand fly, the parasites change from aflagelated amastigotes into

flagellated promastigotes for 1–2 weeks until they are fully developed, a which point they make their way to the proboscis. Upon biting a mammalian host, promastigotes are released into the bloodstream, where they are engulfed by macrophages. Following being engulfed, promastigotes transform into amastigotes. The amastigotes then reproduce through the process of binary fission. At this point the amastigotes are released throughout the body, and can be ingested by female sand flies, thus completing the cycle.

I know that's a bit of an information overload, so let me dumb it down a bit!

- I'm born inside the stomach of a sand fly.

- I grow a flagella for a few weeks until I'm all grown up.

- I swim into the proboscis (basically the fly's nose).

- When the sand fly bites somebody, I hitch a ride!

- I transform again inside my new mammalian host.

- I go through binary fission to make copies of myself. 

- I get all over my hosts body, so when a sand fly bites my new home, I'l be back in the fly again!

Here's some more pictures of how exactly it goes down!