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You might not even notice a sandfly when it first lands on your arm, but if you do, you'd be smart to quickly swat it. Female sandflies are like tiny vampires, biting warm-blooded animals (that includes humans) and drinking their blood. The insects can't suck up much, but it's what they leave behind that's bad. Bacteria from a sandfly bite can travel into a victim's bloodstream and cause infections that can even lead to death!

A Hearty Drink: Like mosquitos, female sandflies drink the blood of warm-blooded animals (mostly mammals and some birds) to help produce sandfly eggs. They easily stab through a victim's skin with their long, sharp mouthparts.

Sweet Treat: When feeding, all adult sandflies stab into plant stems with their sharp "beaks" and suck out the sap. Like some ants, they also use their legs to stroke the backs of aphids, which makes them produce a sweet substance called honeydew.

Bad to the Bone[]

Sandflies Back Image

Sandflies form swarms that are so big they look like dark clouds.

Sandflies are only a quarter of an inch long, but they can present big dangers to humans and cause a range of diseases. Female sandflies love to feed on human blood, and often pass bacteria into the victim's body when they bite. The bacteria might just cause a slight infection, but it can be more serious. The bacteria have been known to travel to the host's nose and disfigure it by eating away at the cartilage. Even worse, if untreated, the infection can attack vital organs or bones and end up killing the person.

They're Everywhere!: When mammals are near, sandflies gather in swarms numbering in the millions and even darken parts of the sky. The female seeks blood to help her eggs develop, and males watch out for females with which to mate.

Wingman: When male and female sandflies gather, the males attract females toward them by holding their wings in a "V" shape above their bodies and rapidly vibrating the wings.

Deadly Little Dangers[]

Sandflies aren't the only insect that pose a deadly danger to human beings. The malarial mosquito can infect people with the malaria virus when it bites; the virus causes high fevers and sometimes death. The tsetse fly works in much the same way, spreading "sleeping sickness," which puts victims into comas.

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