The Phlebotomine Sandfly Fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) of Kenya (Report‪)‬

Phlebotomine sandflies were first reported in Mombasa on the Kenya Coast in 1912 (1). Later in 1930 and 1932, Sinton (2) identified and reported the presence of Sergentomyia schwetzi Adler, Theodor & Parrot, S. africana Newstead, S. yusafi Sinton and S. bedfordi congolensis Bequaert & Walravens (2,3). During the succeeding years, knowledge of the sandfly fauna of Kenya has widened as a result of sporadic collections of sandflies through attempts to find vectors of both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniases (4-19). Until 1982, 40 species of sandflies and subspecies had been reported to occur in Kenya (20). Following continuous collections in different parts of the country, so far 48 species of sandflies have been identified, belonging to the genera Phlebotomus Rondani & Berte and Sergentomyia Franca & Parrot. Sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus are important vectors of the leishmaniases whereas those in Sergentomyia are not known to transmit any disease but can be a biting nuisance (21). Genus Phlebotomus in Kenya is represented in five subgenera, namely Phlebotomus, Larroussius, Synphlebotomus, Paraphlebotomus and Anaphlebotomus. Genus Sergentomyia has the largest number of sandflies, and is represented in four subgenera, namely Sergentomyia, Sintonius, Grassomyia and Parvidens. The sandfly species presented here are not exhaustive and it is possible to have more species reported from Kenya.