Due to its geographical location, Muğla province is one of the most frequently used places by refugees. Although leishmaniasis have been previously reported in this region, there is a lack of information on the etiological agent and possible vectors. The main objectives of this study were; i) to investigate the sand fly fauna, ii) to reveal the natural Leishmania spp. infection in wild caught sand flies using molecular tools, and iii) to determine the annual seasonal dynamics of the sand flies in Muğla region. Totally, 2093 specimens belonging to 15 species [12 Phlebotomus, three Sergentomyia; 51 unidentified] were collected during the one-year (June 2016- June 2017) period. Of the collected sand flies, 1928 (92.12%) were caught by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps, while 165 (7.88%) of them were caught by sticky traps. Phlebotomus major sensu lato (s.l.), the potential vector of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and canine leishmaniasis (CanL) in the Mediterranean and Aegean region, was detected in all sampling locations and found as the dominant taxon (n=1035; 49.45%) of the study area and followed by Phlebotomus tobbi (n=371; 17.72%). During the sampling period, sand fly activity was started in March and peaked in August. Sand fly population size reduced dramatically between mid-September and early October. The number of collected specimens was peaked in August, while there is only one sample collected both in November and March. The majority of the sand flies (78.66%) were collected at an altitude range of 200-400 m. Seventy-two monospecific pools were screened for the presence of Leishmania DNA by real time ITS1 PCR and 24 (nine P. major s.l., eight P. tobbi, two P. papatasi, two S. minuta, one P. alexandri, one P. similis, and one Phlebotomus (Transphlebotomus spp.) of them (33.8%) were found positive (L. infantum, L. tropica, and L. major). To the best of our knowledge, the presence of fifteen sand fly species and their distribution, seasonal dynamics, molecular detection of Leishmania parasites in Muğla province was reported for the first time. The presence of vector species in the study area, appropriate temperature and humidity conditions, long sand fly activity season, and presence of Leishmania parasite suggests that there is a serious risk in the transmission of leishmaniasis in Muğla.

由于其地理位置，穆拉省是难民最常使用的地方之一。尽管以前已在该地区报道了利什曼病，但缺乏有关病原体和可能的病媒的信息。这项研究的主要目标是：i）调查沙蝇动物区系；ii）揭示天然利什曼原虫属。使用分子工具感染野生捕获的沙蝇，并iii）确定穆拉地区沙蝇的年度季节性动态。完全，2093个试样属于15种[12个白蛉，三个Sergentomyia; 在一年（2016年6月至2017年6月）期间收集了51个[未确认]。在收集的沙蝇中，有1928个（92.12％）被疾病控制中心（CDC）的光陷阱捕获，而其中有165个（7.88％）被粘性陷阱捕获。白蛉主要意义上拉托（SL 。），在所有的采样位置检测到的内脏利什曼病的潜在矢量（VL）和犬利什曼病（CANL）在地中海和爱琴海地区，发现作为主导分类群（N = 1035; 49.45％ ）的研究区，然后是Phlebotomus tobbi（n = 371； 17.72％）。在采样期间，沙蝇活动于3月开始，并于8月达到顶峰。在9月中旬至10月初之间，沙蝇种群数量急剧减少。收集的标本数量在8月达到峰值，而在11月和3月都只收集了一个样品。大部分沙蝇（78.66％）是在200-400 m的海拔范围内收集的。七十二个单特异性池筛选存在的利什曼原虫DNA通过实时PCR ITS1和24（9个P.主要SL， 8个P. tobbi，二P. papatasi，二S.小粒，一个P. alexandri，一个P. similis和一只蛇形目（33.8％）他们的（Transphlebotomus spp。）被发现是阳性的（L. infantum，L. tropica和L. major）。据我们所知，首次报道了穆拉省有15种沙蝇物种的存在及其分布，季节动态以及利什曼原虫的分子检测。在研究区域中存在媒介物种，适当的温度和湿度条件，较长的沙蝇活动季节以及利什曼原虫寄生虫的存在表明，穆拉中存在利什曼原虫病传播的严重风险。