Sandfly – Phlebotomus minutus Female Phlebotominae

 8.5mm in length  Sandfly has a brownish colour during the day, it has hairs that are close to each other that coat it.  The wings are “V” shaped. The two wings have dense hairs and increases pigmentation patterns. The large compound eyes are more or less contiguous above the bases of the 15-segmented antennae. The pedicel of the males' antennae houses the Johnston's organ. The mouthparts are well-developed with cutting teeth on elongated mandibles in the proboscis, adapted for blood- sucking in females, but not in males. The thorax extends slightly over the head, and the abdomen is nine-segmented and tapered at the end.

 Different from most biting Diptera, sand fly has a terrestrial development rather than aquatic. Although there have been relatively few successful attempts to identify breeding sites in nature, eggs are laid in soil rich in organic matter and the larvae pass through four instars before pupation and adult emergence.

Sandfly fever  Fever, malaise, eye pain, and headache occurring mainly during the warm weather. Acute symptoms last for 2-4 days, but if the fever is severe it takes a week.  Phlebotomines feed on pools of blood by suck blood from a tiny wound they make in the skin of human.  Cutaneous leishmaniasis (oriental sore). At the site where a sandfly has bitten, an ulcer forms. At some instances a parasite is found in the area of a wound in some species, it also infects the lymphatic system, causing skin wounds along the lymphatic ducts.

PREVENTIO N  nsect repellent should be used on skin, so as to prevent the sandfly transmitted diseases. The use of mosquito netting sprayed with permethrin is recommended. Good sanitation and housekeeping prevents sandflies from lodging in the house. Insecticide can be sprayed on outdoor breeding sites.

CONTROL  Households are sprayed with residual insecticide on surfaces. This has been the most effective method used. This controltechnique is also used for killing  Destroy active qualities of reservoir species. Certain species of mammals can act as important reservoirs of Leishmania By depriving life to reservoir species which live near human households, disease rates can be decreased. One can make a use of rodenticide.  The area where the lava lives can be sprayed with an insecticide. In spite of its ineffectiveness.