Phlebotomine sandflies of Botswana: a taxonomic review and a faunistic update with the first record of genus Phlebotomus

•For the first time, Phlebotomus rodhaini, a putative vector of leishmaniasis, is reported from Botswana.•In total, five phlebotomine sandfly species are currently known from this country.•This study provides baseline data for molecular typing of southern African sandflies, including the first ND5 mtDNA sequences for Afrotropical species.

The first records of phlebotomine sandflies from Botswana have been published only recently, comprising of four species of genus Sergentomyia. This update presents the first record of genus Phlebotomus, namely Ph. (Anaphlebotomus) rodhaini Parrot, which is also the first detection of a putative vector of leishmaniasis in Botswana. In addition, records of the Sergentomyia “bedfordi (Newstead) group” are reviewed, and the molecular taxonomy of all taxa known from Botswana is analysed based on three mitochondrial gene fragments (mtDNA). The presence of Se. congolensis (Bequaert and Walrveus) and Se. salisburiensis (Abonnenc) is confirmed, whereas the previously mentioned Se. caliginosa Davidson and unassigned specimens of the “bedfordi group” are proposed to belong to the tentatively named Se. bedfordi “Maun” form. The mtDNA analyses confirmed the species delimitations. For the first time, portions of the ND5 gene were used for the purpose of sandfly molecular taxonomy. This gene revealed a high inter-specific variability and may thus be applied as an alternative molecular marker for future studies.

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