166 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



above described. These were greatly distended with blood, and 

 were so intent on feeding that he was able to pick them off and 

 place them in alcohol. 



One o" the first five specimens from which Coquillett described 

 the species, (Ent. News, vol. 18, 1907, p. 102) was found in the 

 early morning on the floor of the cabin at Plummer's Island, be- 

 side a blanket on which a person had been sleeping during the 

 night. It was so heavily engorged with blood, supposedly from 

 the sleeper, that it could not fly. 



In view of the abundance of Phlebotomus vexator about the 

 cabin on Plummer's Island during June and July, it seems remark- 

 able that no observations of its attacking man, have been made. 

 Its nocturnal habit, with possibly a painless bite and silent flight , 

 may explain this. Another species found in Guatemala, Phleboto- 

 mus cruciatus Coq., was observed by Mr. Barber to bite man and 

 cause annoyance, (see note by Barber, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washing- 

 ton, vol. 8, 1906, p. 102). 



In India a species of Phlebotomus has been observed sucking 

 the blood of a toad. (Maxwell Lefroy, H., A Preliminary Ac- 

 count of the Biting Flies of India, 1907 p. 16). 



Mr. Knab said that Mr. Shannon's observations were very 

 interesting in that they showed a well marked difference in the 

 feeding habits of the different species of Phlebotomus. This is 

 strikingly confirmed by observations recently made in another 

 part of the world. It is recognized that Phlebotomus papatasii 

 of the Mediterranean region, which is the vector of the so-called 

 pappataci fever, is associated with man in much the same way that 

 are' certain species of mosquitoes, frequenting houses and the 

 females sucking his blood. It has been assumed that the other 

 species of Phlebotomus also readily attack man. F. M. Hewlett, 

 in a paper which has just come to hand, now shows that another 

 species common in the Orient has a marked preference for the 

 blood of Geckos (Indian Journ. Med. Research, vol. I, pp. 34-38, 

 1>1. 9; July, 1913). Hewlett states that Phlebotomus minutus, in its 

 biology, is closely associated with these lizards. He shows that 

 the geographic distribution of Phlebotomus minutus and of tin- 

 Geckonidae correspond very closely. Furthermore, Phlebotomus 

 minutus, whether in houses or out-of-doors, is always associated 

 with the Geckos, and it is useless to seek it elsewhere. The larvae 



