On the bionomics of the Sandflies (Phlebotomus) of Tokar, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Extract

The following observations were made during eighteen days spent at Tokar in October and November, 1912. Only a limited amount of time could be given to the work of searching for the breeding places of sandflies, but it is thought that possibly these very brief notes may be of some interest to those engaged in similar research elsewhere.

The town of Tokar is situated about eighteen miles from the port of Trinkitat on the Red Sea and some fifty-eight miles south-east of Suakin. It is the centre of a cotton-growing area comprising between 30,000 and 40,000 acres watered by the flood-river (or khor) Baraka. This khor comes down in flood during the months of July and August and spreads over the plain. As soon as the land is dry enough it is cleaned and almost the whole of it sown to cotton. A few heavy rainstorms usually occur during the months of October, November and December, and cotton picking extends from the latter month till May. The soil is alluvial, and on drying cracks vertically to a depth of several feet, and also horizontally, forming shale-like plates of varying thicknesses. There are scarcely any trees and only a moderate number of low bushes.