A preliminary survey of phlebotomine sandflies in limestone caves of Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces, south-west China, and description and discussion of a primitive new genus Chinius.

Some limestone caves in Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces were surveyed with light-sticky traps for phlebotomine sandflies in 1982, and specimens were mounted in Berlese's medium. Ten species belonging to three genera were found. Among them was a remarkable primitive fly, considered to be a new taxon, for which a new genus Chinius is proposed in honour of the late Professor Yao Tin Chin, a pioneer of modern medical entomology in China.