Phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) of Ethiopia

Phlebotomine sandflies have a long history of association with humans, which makes them the only proven natural vectors of Leishmania species, the parasitic protozoans that cause leish-maniases in humans and animals. In Ethiopia, the three forms of leishmaniases, viz., visceral, dermal and mucocutaneous are endemic in different parts of the country. Since the first report of phlebotomine sandflies in Ethiopia in 1936, the distribution of different species and their role in the transmission of leishmaniases have been extensively studied. The objective of this review was to summarize the patchy information and give an updated list of phlebotomine sandfly species in Ethiopia and their known geographical distribution in the country. Peer-reviewed literature search was conducted using online databases. All articles published which focus on distribution and medical importance of Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia species of Ethiopia starting from 1936 up to 2022 were reviewed. Until July 2022, 65 phlebotomine sandfly species have been reported, belonging to the genus Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia. The genus Phlebotomus in Ethiopia is rep-resented by six subgenera such as Adlerius, Anaphlebotomus, Larroussius, Paraphlebotomus Phle-botomus and Synphlebotomus, whereas the genus Sergentomyia is represented by six subgenera, namely Grassomyia, Parrotomyia, Parvidens, Rondanomyia, Sergentomyia, and Sintonius.

Automated summary

Phlebotomine sandflies have a long history of association with humans and are the natural vectors of Leishmania species that cause leishmaniases in humans and animals. In Ethiopia, different forms of leishmaniases are endemic, and the distribution of sandflies and their role in transmission have been extensively studied. This review provides an updated list of phlebotomine sandfly species in Ethiopia and their geographical distribution, with a total of 65 reported species belonging to the genus Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia.