A researcher from the Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University, discovered a new black fly species in Thailand.
Black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) are insects of medical and veterinary importance. There are more than 2,400 species of black fly recorded globally. Many species are vectors of disease agents transmitted to humans and other animals. These blood-sucking insects are vectors of Onchocerca volvulus, the filarial nematode that is the causative agent of human onchocerciasis, or river blindness. More than one million people have visual loss as a result of this disease. In addition to O. volvulus, there are at least 11 other Onchocerca species in wild animals that are transmitted by 20 black fly species. Occasionally, these Onchocerca species have been transmitted to humans and cause the disease “zoonotic onchocerciasis.” Black flies also transmit other disease agents such as viruses and protozoa, including haemosporidian parasites of the genus Leucocytozoon and Trypanosoma, thereby causing economically significant disease in poultry. Therefore, basic knowledge of taxonomy is extremely important.
Recently, Prof. Pairot Pramual, from the Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University, and his colleagues discovered a new black fly species from Phuruea District, Loei province. This species was named “Simulium proyooki Pramual, Jomkumsing, Thongyan, Wongpakam & Takaoka, 2022″ (Figure 1 and 2). The name of this novel black fly species is in honour of Associate Professor Dr Prayook Sriwilai, President of Mahasarakham University, who has continuously supported the work on the biodiversity of black flies in Thailand. This finding was published in the scientific journal “Tropical Biomedicine.”Further information can be found at
Pramual, P., Jomkumsing, P., Thongyan, T., Wongpakam, K., & Takaoka, H. (2022). A new species of black fly, formerly cytoform C of the Simulium angulistylum complex (Diptera:Simuliidae), from a high mountain in northeastern Thailand. Tropical Biomedicine, 39(2), 281-290). https://doi.org/10.47665/tb.39.2.018
