Tehran University of Medical Sciences Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases 2322-1984 6 1 2012 06 15 1 17 EN MR Yaghoobi-Ershadi Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2015 10 03 Sand fly research has a long history in Iran beginning with the work of Adler, Theodor and Lourie in 1930 and followed by Mesghali’s foundational taxonomic work on sand flies in 1943. Since then, research has continued unabated throughout the country and official publications report the existence of at least 44 species of sand flies (26 of the genus Phlebotomus and 18 of genus Sergentomyia) in Iran. So far, seven Phlebotomus species and one Sergentomyia species have been collected and described by Iranian researchers for the first time. Natural promastigote infection have been repeatedly found in 13 species of sand flies and modern molecular techniques are used routinely to characterize Leishmania parasite isolates from endemic areas of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. Because of anthropogenic environmental modifications or human population movements, data on phlebotomine sand flies should be regularly updated and verified at least every five years by fieldwork and taxonomy in foci of leishmaniasis, to incriminate vector species of relevance to the ecology of transmission and to support development and implementation of control programs. https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/94 https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/download/94/92