Phlebotomus (Paraphlebotomus) alexandri Sinton, 1928

Rioux, Jean-Antoine, Gramiccia, Marina, Léger, Nicole, Desjeux, Philippe & Depaquit, Jérôme, 2020, Leishmaniasis and phlebotomine sand flies in Oman Sultanate, Parasite (Paris, France) 27 (68), pp. 1-13 : 7

Phlebotomus (Paraphlebotomus) alexandri Sinton, 1928

The male and female are easily identifiable thanks to their short first flagellomere (= AIII).

Moreover, in the male, there is a short basal lobe of the gonocoxite, with a spherical head, provided with radiant, generally rectilinear setae. The apical spine of the style is inserted on a long process, far from the subapical spine.

The female exhibits a pharyngeal armature of rectangular overall appearance without anterior extension, consisting of strongly chitinised, spiniform scales forming a thick network.

Ph. alexandri occupies a vast geographical area: from Morocco to Mongolia down to Sudan. In Oman, Ph. alexandri is a fairly abundant Phlebotomus , especially in Dhofar. Here, Ph. alexandri is mainly found in the desert zone at Boswellia (Incense Tree) , and more particularly in bottom of the Wadi (Herwouib).

With the exception of the isolation of L. donovani in China [ 27], the role of Ph. alexandri as a vector is still under discussion. Its low abundance in the prospected areas of the Sharqiyah cannot yet explain its potential role in the transmission of L. donovani .