Phlebotomus (sand flies, Sandflies)

Phlebotomus is a genus of mosquitoes (the so-called "sand flies" or Sandflies) from the family Psychodidae of the order Diptera. In the fossil state, the genus is known from Burmese amber.

Photo "sand fly" phlebotomus

Adults have a length of about 1.5-3.0 mm and a yellowish color, noticeable black eyes and a hairy body, wings and legs.

Oral apparatus in the form of a piercing-sucking proboscis.

Oval lanceolate wings are arranged vertically on the humpback breast. Males have long protruding genital appendages known as clamers. Females have a pair of anal appendages.

There are about 700 species of mosquitoes; in Russia - 3-5 species.

Distributed on both sides of the equator (up to 40 latitudes).

Stings

Only females bite and suck the blood of mammals, reptiles and birds. The protein in the blood is necessary for them to produce eggs, which makes midges autogenous breeding individuals when an adult female insect needs to eat a certain food (usually vertebrate blood fluid) before laying eggs so that they mature. This behavior is most common among diptera insects such as mosquitoes.

Often, the bite is not noticeable and manifests the next day as a red tubercle on the skin with fluid oozing from it.

Bites usually lead to small, severely itchy tubercles or blisters, the intensity of itching from which increases for 5-7 days before weakening.

Mosquito bites can be distinguished from midge bites by the fact that midge bites are usually arranged in groups, as they attack animals in packs.

Adults have short mouthparts and are unable to bite through clothing.

In Egypt, there are two species of medical significance - Phlebotomus papatasii and P. langerni.

Phlebotomus papatasii

Transfer of parasitic diseases

Mosquitoes carry mosquito fever pathogens (pappatachi), cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis

In the Old World, Phlebotomus sand mosquitoes are primarily responsible for the transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease, while in the New World it is usually carried by sand mosquitoes of the genus Lutzomyia.

The simplest parasite itself belongs to the genus Leishmania. The source of leishmaniasis among mammals is usually rodents and other small animals, such as canids (dog leishmaniasis) and giraceans.

The female mosquito carries leishmania from infected animals after feeding, thereby transmitting the disease, while the male feeds on plant nectar.

The parasite Leishmania donovani is the main causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, where it is transmitted by mosquitoes of the species Phlebotomus argentipes. This mosquito species was on the verge of extinction in India in the 1960s after the widespread use of DDT to control malaria. Ten years later, however, their population has reborn.

Bartonellosis

Phlebotomus species are also carriers of bartonellosis, Peruvian fever and Pappatachi fever, an arbovirus disease caused by São Paulo fever viruses such as the Neapolitan and Sicilian strains of the genus Phlebovirus (family Bunyaviridae), which also includes the closely related Tuscan virus.

Lifestyle

Clutches of 30-70 eggs are laid in cracks and holes in the ground, in slits of masonry and among fallen leaves. To avoid drying, eggs require a moist environment and hatch after about 20 days.

Larvae mainly feed on carrion, eating fungi, mold on leaves, rotten vegetation and detritus. Larvae can be recognized by the black head, grayish twelve-segment body and noticeable pinnate, branched bristles on the head and body, as well as two pairs of long hairs at the tip of the abdomen.

Larvae undergo four stages of development for three to four weeks before taking an upright position and turning into a pupa. The last larval skin remains attached to the pupa, and long hairs stick out.

In cooler climates, larvae can go into diapause for the winter.

Adults emerge from the pupae after about one to two weeks. The entire cycle takes thirty to sixty days unless the larvae are diapause, which can take four or five months.

Laboratory colonies of several Phlebotomus species were created to experimentally study their biology, behavior, relationships with pathogens, as well as to test vector control methods.

Adults lead a nocturnal lifestyle, and during the day they hide in dark wet places, for example, on the bark, among the foliage, in fallen leaves, in animal burrows, in termite mounds, as well as in cracks and crevices.

As night falls, they emerge to feed on the sweet secretions and juice of the plants. Females need to drink blood before breeding. Some species feed on the blood of mammals, including humans, while others feed on the blood of birds, reptiles and amphibians.

The mosquito flies poorly and makes short flights in search of the victim, and in its vicinity switches to a "jumping" style of flight. Some midges are "exophagi" and live exclusively outdoors, while others are "endophagi" and enter homes.

In the tropics, adults can breed year-round, but in temperate climates, adults die in autumn and new ones appear in spring.

Distribution

• Swaraj Dwip Island (Andaman Islands), February 2025

• In Ethiopia, 22 species of phlebotomus were recorded in 2015. The most important endemic foci were the country's arid southwestern and northwestern lowlands bordering Kenya and Sudan.