An Annotated List of the Bloodsucking Insects, Ticks and Mites Known from Panama

Abstract

The need for some sort of reference list of the insects of potential medical importance occurring in Panama was brought rather forcibly to the attention of the writer last year. During attempts to prepare a simple account of the more important biting and annoying insects found in Panama for the use of entomologically untrained Army personnel, it became apparent that a summing up of the information gathered by the writer and his predecessors in this rich area had become a real necessity. Medical entomologists are somewhat anomalous creatures at best, being either medical men who have taken up entomology through force of circumstances, or entomologists who have become interested in some group of insects of medical importance. There is no journal entirely devoted to medical entomology, and articles on the subject are published wherever the author thinks he can reach the most interested audience.This makes it necessary for workers in this field to attempt to keep up with both the medical and entomological literature, a task that is all but impossible except to the fortunate few within reach of a really adequate library.