Fauna and the distribution of Phlebotominae sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Sanandaj County, Kurdistan Province, west of Iran, 2017

BACKGROUND: Phlebotominae sand flies, belonging to Psychodidae family, are very important because some species of them are biological vector of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in Iran. An investigation was carried out in Sanandaj County, west of Iran, to evaluate the fauna, sex ratio, and species combination. METHODS: The samples collected using sticky traps from indoors and outdoors of 5 villages in year 2017. The traps were fixed before sunset, and collected at sunrise in the morning of the next day. The collected sand flies preserved in 70% ethanol and mounted, using Puri's medium, and identified using the keys of Iranian sand flies. RESULTS: Totally, 907 sand flies comprising Phlebotomus genus (58%) and Sergentomyia genus (42%) were captured. The collected sand flies consisted of: Phlebotomus papatasi, Phlebotomus perfilliwei, Phlebotomus major, Phlebotomus kandellakii, Phlebotomus sergenti, Sergentomyia sintoni, Sergentomyia dentata, Sergentomyia antennata, and Sergentomyia theodori. Phlebotomus papatasi, Sergentomyia dentata and Sergentomyia sintoni were predominant species, respectively. CONCLUSION: The high abundance of sand flies especially Phlebotomus papatasi can lead to incidence and prevalence of leishmaniasis disease in this region. So, the complementary studies especially, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) studies are suggested to evaluate the infection rate of Leishmania parasite in sand flies and rodents.