Observations on phlebotomine sandflies in Iran.

A survey of the sandfly population of Iran was conducted in the interests of providing further knowledge of the biology of these vectors of leishmaniasis, sandfly fever and kalaazar. The search for specimens was carried out in the Tabriz, Sarab, Caspian Sea, Teheran and Kazerun areas, both inside buildings and in natural habitats. In addition, a collection of sandflies from the Varamin Plain was examined.A new species and a known species new to Iran were found. As in many parts of the Palaearctic Region, the sandfly fauna is distinguished by a large proportion of members of the subgenus Phlebotomus and a considerable number of house-frequenting sandflies of this subgenus, and thus differs strikingly from the sandfly populations of vast areas of the world where leishmaniasis is rare or absent.Observations were made on the local distribution and other features of several species.