Morphological Identification of Sandflies and Their Species’ Diversity

L Introdaction: Leishmaniasis is a zoonosis disease, presented in three forms including cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral (kala-azar). The parasite, Leishmania spp, is transferred by the causative agent of the disease, namely the sand-fly. Accurate identification of sand-flies helps to prevent and treat the disease. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted to identify sand-fly species distributed in Birjand, east of Iran. Sand-flies were collected from different parts of Birjand city, Iran through using sticky traps in summer 2015. Captured female specimens were mounted and identified by specific keys. Result: In this study, a total of 1480 samples of sand-flies were collected, out of which 945 sand-flies in areas were related to animal and 535 sand-flies in areas related to human. The most prevalent species, among 654 collected female specimens were Phlebotomus sergenti (22.17%) and Sergentomyia dentata (49.54%). Conclusion: According to the current results, the dominant species among disease vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis is the urban type. Because of the presence of Leishmania tropica , the city's health system must take necessary care to control cutaneous leishmaniasis.