Faunistic study and abundance of the phlebotomine sand flies in Saravan County, South-East Iran

Introduction: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis is transmitted to humans mainly by Phlebotomus papatasi and P. sergenti sand flies in Iran. This survey was conducted in order to determine species composition and abundance of sand fly species in Saravan County. Iran Methods: This field study was conducted in 1997-1998. Sand flies were collected from outdoors by sticky paper traps. Identifications were based on the morphology of the male genitalia and female spermatechae and pharynges using standard keys. Results: Based on the results, S. tiberiadis (18%), P. alexandri (16.5%) and P. kazeruni (14.3%) were found to be the most abundant species. Other species were P. sergenti, S. clydei, S. hodgsoni, P. papatasi, S. sintoni, S. christophersi, S. baghdadis, S. iranica, S. mervynae, P. eleanorae, P. bergeroti, S. dreyfussi, S. dentata, P. mesghali, S. grekovi, S. theodori and S. africana, respectively. During the study period, the species of P. eleanorae, P. bergeroti, P. mesghali, S. hodgsoni, S. christophersi, S. mervynae, S. dreyfussi, S. dentata, S. grekovi, S. africana and S. theodori were captured for the first time from this county. Conclusion: In this study, P. papatasi, P. sergenti and P. alexandri comprised 69.6% of catches during the study period. These species are the proven vectors of Leishmania major, L. tropica and L. infantum in Iran, respectively.