Abstract
This chapter describes different aspects of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) that are the only conclusively proven vectors of most disease-causing Leishmania species. However, biting midges are likely vectors (Dougall et al. 2011; Seblova et al. 2015) of some parasites belonging to the subgenus Mundinia.
Sand flies also transmit other human and animal pathogens, namely, bacteria (Bartonella) and viruses (mainly Bunyaviridae) (Maroli et al. 2013). Life cycle and biology of sand flies are presented together with important stages of parasite development within the vector, immunomodulatory properties of sand fly saliva, a brief outline of taxonomy and their vectorial role of Old and New World leishmaniasis in different biomes.