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Story: Sandflies and mosquitoes

Female sandfly

Female sandfly

Female sandflies feed on human blood (and that of other animals) by piercing the surface of the skin until a drop of blood forms – which they suck up. Females need blood to produce eggs, but male sandflies are vegetarian.

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Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Permission of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Sandflies and mosquitoes – Sandflies: New Zealand’s blackflies, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/14736/female-sandfly (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 1 March 2009.

Comments

Jane
06 November 2015
Great website with excellent images - quite hard to find information on sandflies other than those talking about how to stop bites. But.. missing information on what adult sandflies eat.