Sandflies on the island of Corfu, Greece

The island of Corfu is an endemic area of human leishmaniasis, mainly visceral and secondly cutaneous. In August 1996, a survey of phlebotomine sandflies was conducted throughout the whole island. Using castor-oil paper traps, a total of 2,615 sandflies were caught. The following species were identified: 450 (17.21 %) Phlebotomus neglectus, 213 (8.15%) P. tobbi, 129 (4.93%) P. Perfiliewi, 12 (0.46%) P.sergenti, 11 (0.42%) P.simici, 4 (0.15%) P. papatasi, 999 (38.20%) Sergentomyia minuta and 797 (30.48%)S. dentata. Among the potential vectors of Leishmania spp., P. neglectus, P. tobbi and P. perfiliewi, were the most widespread species on the island. However, a decrease of the population density of sandflies compared to previous entomological studies was observed