47 
THE PAPATACI FLIES (PHLEBOTOMUS) OF THE MALTESE 
ISLANDS. 
By R. NEWSTEAD, M.Sc., A.L.S., &c. 
(PLatTEs I.—III.) 
(A report of the twenty-third Expedition of the Liverpool School of 
Tropical 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 Phlebotomus.* 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 my visit, two distinct species (P. papatasti Scop., and P. perniciosus, 
sp.n.) were found to be almost equally abundant; and examples of a third, 
though apparently rare, species (P. minutus, Rond.) 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. nigerrimus, sp. n.), so that altogether four distinct species of 
Phlebotomus are now known to occur in the Maltese Islands. 
These discoveries, though of much 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 
differences 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. papatasti ; but judging from recent experience, I have come to the 
conclusion that the almost equally abundant P. pernictosus 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 are generally known to Englishmen as “ Sand Flies.” 
