47 



THE PAPATACI FLIES (PHLEBOTOMUS) OF THE MALTESE 



ISLANDS. 



By E. NEWSTEAD, M.Sc, A.L.S., &c. 



(Plates I.— III.) 



(A report of f/te Ucenty-third Expedition of the Lire)-pool School oj 

 Trojncal Medicine.) 



Acting under the instructions of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine 

 I proceeded to Malta on the 25th of June 1910, and stayed in the Island for a 

 period of two months. The object of this expedition was to investigate the 

 problems connected with the menace to health caused by the blood-sucking 

 " Papataci Flies " of the genus Phlehotomus.^ The greater part of my time was 

 devoted to searching for the breeding-places of these insects with a view to 

 devising practical prophylactic measures for the control of the pest. Other phases 

 relating chiefly to the bionomics of Phlebotomus were also investigated ; and 

 attempts were made to rear the insect from the egg. 



On making a critical examination of the material collected during the first 

 week of ray visit, two distinct species (P. papatasii Scop., and P. perniciosus, 

 sp. n.) were found to be almost equally abundant; and examples of a third, 

 though apparently raxe, species {P. minutus, Bond.) were subsequently taken. 

 Since my return to England, Captain P. J. Marett, R.A.M.C., has very 

 generously placed the whole of his collection of Maltese Papataci flies in my 

 hands for examination and report ; and among the numerous examples there 

 were two specimens which have proved to be a new and hitherto undescribed 

 species {P. nif/errimus, sp. n.), so that altogether four distinct species of 

 Phlebotomus are now known to occur in the Maltese Islands. 



These discoveries, though of nuich interest for the zoologist, add considerably 

 to the labours of those who are or may be engaged in studying these insects more 

 especially from a medical point of view ; as owing to the minute morphological 

 diflPerences which exist between the females of these small midges the task of 

 separating the respective species, more especially the commoner ones, is one which 

 can be accomplished only after long and careful microscopical examination and 

 comparison. 



Hitherto the only species recorded from Malta was the common and widely 

 distributed P. impatasii ; but judging from recent experience, I have come to the 

 conclusion that the almost equally abundant P. perniciosus must have been seen, 

 though not recognised, by those who have been engaged in studying the bionomics 

 of these insects. 



It is highly probable too, that examples of this species were also used by those 

 who conducted the transmission experiments, and although one has no direct 

 proof, it is possible that P. perniciosus, like its near relative {P. papatasii), may 

 also act as a carrier of Papataci fever. 



* These insects aTe generally known to Englishmen as " Sand Flies." 



