DNA barcoding of Sri Lankan phlebotomine sand flies using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I reveals the presence of cryptic species

• The manuscript reports the bar coding approach using COI sequence for Sri Lankan sandflies.
• This is the first use of molecular marker for wider group of sandflies in Sri Lanka.
• This is the first approach for using barcoding to delineate species of Sri Lankan sandflies.
• New species complexes/ species have been delineated based on the analysis.

Sri Lanka is known for high diversity of phlebotomine sand flies and prevalence of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis; a disease vectored by sand flies. The taxonomy of phlebotomine sand flies is complicated and often the diversity is over/underrated. The current study aims to use the cytochrome c oxidase gene subunit 1 (COI) sequence and formulate a barcode for the sand fly species in Sri Lanka. A total of 70 samples comprising seven species morphologically identified and collected from dry zone districts of Hambantota, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Jaffna were processed. Neighbour-joining (NJ) tree created using the sequences revealed the species identity is compatible with the current morphology based identification. Further the analysis delineated morphologically identified Se. bailyi, Se babu babu and Se babu insularis into genetically distinct groups.

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