[Survey of Phlebotomus neglectus Tonnoir, 1921 (=P. major s.l.) in a leishmaniasis focus in northern Italy (province of Verona)].

An entomological survey was carried out on leishmaniasis vectors (Diptera: Psychodidae) in North Italy (Verona province). A total of 382 sandfly specimens was caught by sticky traps in 6 collecting stations. The species identified were: Phlebotomus perniciosus (62.3%), P. neglectus (= major s.l.) (5.2%), P. papatasi (2.1%), P. mascittii (0.3%) and Sergentomyia minuta (30.1%). After the description of the olotype of P. neglectus by Tonnoir (1921) in Trieste (Opicina), this is the first time that the species is recorded in a region of North Italy being previously collected only in the regions of Southern such as Apulia, Calabria, Sicily. The role of the sandfly species in the transmission of leishmaniasis in the focus is also discussed.