The West Indian Species of Phlebotomus (Dipt. Psychodidae)

Abstract

Sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus are a widespread and medically important group of bloodsucking midges. Their distribution covers the tropics of both hemispheres and extends well into both the north and south temperate regions. Certain species are the vectors of various forms of leishmaniasis, of Oroya fever or verruga peruana and of pappataci or sandfly fever. Leishmaniasis in several forms is widespread in the American tropics, and verruga is known from southern Colombia to southern Peru, but neither infection has been reported from the West Indies. Sandfly fever is known with certainty only from the Old World, though cases clinically indistinguishable have been reported from a number of widely scattered places in the New World. Clinically suspicious cases have occurred in Puerto Rico, though not reported as sandfly fever because of the supposed absence of Phlebotomus in that area.