An inventory of the phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) found in the Turkish province of Konya

Abstract

Between the April and October of 1997, the sandflies in six areas (Centrum, Altinekin, Kadinhani, Cumra, Beysehir and Bozkir) of the Turkish province of Konya, in Central Anatolia, were surveyed. All the sandflies were caught close to houses, on sticky-paper traps placed in barns used by livestock. All 127 specimens of Sergentomyia collected were either S. theodori (86.6%) or S. dentata (13.4%). The other 2017 sandflies caught represented 12 species of Phlebotomus - mostly P. papatasi (78.4%) or P. halepensis (10.9%), with P. sergenti (3.8%), P. simici (2.2%), P. kandelakii (1.6%), P. similis (0.9%), P. jacusieli (0.5%), P. neglectus (0.4%), P. transcaucasicus (0.3%), P. syriacus (0.3%), P. kyreniae (0.3%) and P. balcanicus (0.3%) relatively rare. Most (87%) of the flies were male. This represents the first report of P. transcaucasicus in Turkey. In addition, P. syriacus, P. neglectus, P. similis and S. dentata have not been detected before in Central Anatolia.