Faunistic Study of Sand Flies in Northern Cyprus

A faunistic study of Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae) sand flies was carried out in northern Cyprus. A total of 12,517 sand flies (3,285 males and 9,232 females) was collected from 20 different localities in July and September 2004. Nine species belonging to genus Phlebotomus and 3 species of genus Sergentomyia were identified. Of these, the presence of the species Phlebotomus neglectus Tonnoir was reported for the first time in Cyprus, while P. jacusieli Theodor, P. kyreniae Theodor and P. economidesi Léger, Depaquit & Ferté were reported from the island for only the second time. However, P. mascittii Grassi which was previously reported from southern Cyprus was not found in this study. The most abundant species for the overall northern Cyprus were P. galilaeus Theodor (60.88%), P. papatasi Scopoli (15.67%) and P. tobbi Adler & Theodor (12.47%). These three species account for 89.02% of all sand flies collected in this survey. Because of the previously reported parasitic diseases such as human and canine visceral leishmaniasis, cutaneous leishmaniasis and viral diseases such as sand fly fever, the distribution of the sand fly species belonging to genus Phlebotomus found in northern Cyprus and their vectorial status were discussed and the results were compared with previous reports.