Intraspecific variation within Phlebotomus sergenti Parrot (1917) (Diptera: Psychodidae) based on mtDNA sequences in Islamic Republic of Iran.

An intraspecific study on the morphological and molecular characteristics of Phlebotomus sergenti s.l., the main vector of Leishmania tropica, was performed on 28 Iranian populations from 11 provinces and a few samples from Greece, Morocco, Lebanon, Turkey, Pakistan, and Syria. Three morphotypes were identified as A, B and C, with some intermediate forms in the samples under investigation. Based on the number of setae and the width of basal lobe of coxite, differences between A and B morphotypes were highly significant. Excluding one unusual haplotype, sequence analysis of ∼439 bp of mtDNA (a fragment of cytochromeB gene, tRNA for serine gene, and a fragment of NADH1 gene) revealed a 6–7% g…