81 HAROLD H. KING — BIONOMICS OF SANDFLIES (PHLEBOTOMUS SPP.) 9 &C. 



The spot chosen for the purpose was a plot of well-cleaned land under cotton, 

 distant If miles from the nearest mud or brick building or wall. Here adult 

 sandflies existed in myriads. Numbers could be found by turning over clods of 

 earth, as many as fifteen — approximately — sometimes being seen under a single 

 clod. Vertical cracks extended to a depth of from three to four feet, so holes 

 were dug to this depth and the soil at the sides, especially that in the neighbour- 

 hood of cracks, carefully picked to pieces and searched. A single larva, which 

 I believe to belong to a species of Phlebotomies, was obtained. This larva, which 

 corresponds almost exactly with Newstead's figure and description of the second 

 instar of the larva of P. papatasii, is described below. It was found at a depth 

 of about four inches, in damp earth, in the vicinity of a crack, and when alive 9 

 closely resembled the soil in colour. Moreover when first exposed it did not 

 move and so might easily have been overlooked. When placed on a flat surface 

 it made no attempt to flick itself away but merely crawled slowly along by 

 means of its prolegs. It was killed and preserved as the chances of my being 

 able to rear the adult from it were, under the circumstances, infinitesimal. 



Although I could find only this one specimen I believe that there were 

 numbers in the soil. With a tropical sun shining on one's back, numbers of 

 house-flies tickling one's face, and a gale of wind blowing dust into one's eyes and 

 the particles of soil from under one's hand, it is not difficult to overlook such an 

 inconspicuous object as a sandfly larva or pupa. Lumps of soil were taken to 

 the house and examined there but these yielded nothing. 



A species of wagtail (Motacilla alba) was frequently observed catching adult 

 sandflies at dawn, before they had taken shelter for the day. 



My thanks are due to Mr. Gr. Gr. Macdonald, Agricultural Insp?ctor at Tokar, 

 for very kindly giving me every assistance in his power. 



Description of Phlebotomus larva. 



Length : 3 mm. Colour : general appearance when alive, dark brown : after 

 death, head dark brown, mandibles, labial plate and dorsal process on anal seg- 

 ment black, hairy spines yellowish-brown, thorax and abdomen yellowish-white. 



The first joint of the antenna is small, the second and third are broad, flat and 

 rounded in outline, the latter terminating in a short bristle. The thoracic 

 segments have the rows of hairy spines continued on the ventral surfaces, 

 forming complete rings. A similar ring is situated on the space between the 

 head and the first thoracic segment, the ventral spines of this ring — four in 

 number — being long and pointed instead of comparatively short and clubbed. 

 The hairy spines on the thorax and abdomen are shorter and more noticeably 

 clubbed near the head, and become longer and less clubbed towards the anal end. 

 The transparent tips of these hairy spines are less swollen than are those of 

 P. papatasii. On the basal half of the dorsum of the anal segment is situated a 

 black process, roughly rectangular in outline with a finely serrated margin. 

 From the top of this process arise two smaller processes, each bearing two of 

 the four caudal bristles and also two hairy spines, similar to those on the abdo- 

 minal segments. There is a dark area on the dorsum of the penultimate segment. 



So far as I can judge from Newstead's figure and description, this larva 

 resembles that of P. papatasii in its second instar in all other details, 



