Remarkable diversity, new records and Leishmania detection in the sand fly fauna of an area of high endemicity for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Acre state, Brazilian Amazonian Forest

•Sand flies of 57 species and 14 genera were collected in Amazonian forested areas, most of genera Nyssomyia, Psychodopygus and Trichophoromyia.•Species of Trichophoromyia and Psychodopygus were common in human habitats.•Three new records of phlebotomine species for Acre were reported, including Trichophoromyia omagua for the first time in Brazil.•Leishmania (Viannia) sp. was detected in ten sand fly species: first-time in Brazil in Brumptomyia sp., Lutzomyia sherlocki, and Psychodopygus lainsoni.•First-time in Brazil of Psychodopygus lainsoni harboring Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis, also detected in Brumptomyia sp. and Psathyromyia aragaoi. The species richness of Amazonian phlebotomines is considered to be one of the highest in the world. In the present study, we investigated the richness and diversity of phlebotomine fauna in Xapuri city, Acre state, Western Brazilian Amazonia, which is an area that is highly endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis. Sand fly collections were performed monthly from August 2013 to July 2015 (288 h total of sampling effort) in intradomiciliary, peridomiciliary, and forested environments of two localities. Collected females were dissected, microscopically examined for flagellates in their guts, and preserved in ethanol. A total of 21,197 specimens comprising 14 genera and 57 species were collected, and the majority of these were Nyssomyia, Psychodopygus, and Trichophoromyia genera. Three new records of phlebotomine species for Acre are presented here, including Brumptomyia brumpti, Psathyromyia pradobarrientosi, and for the first time in Brazil, Th. omagua. In Xapuri, the phlebotomine fauna of different ecotopes was varied in regard to abundance, diversity, and frequency, and they included proven and permissive vectors of Leishmania spp. The fauna discovered in the forested areas (57 species) was richer and more diverse than was that (33 species) identified in the peri‑ and intra-domiciles. The identification of Leishmania subgenera that were present in sand fly guts according to SSU rRNA sequences revealed ten and three species harboring Leishmania of subgenera Viannia and Leishmania (most likely Leishmania amazonensis), respectively. The presence of Leishmania (Leishmania) in sand flies are reported here for the first time in Acre. The presence of L. (Viannia) spp. in Brumptomyia sp. and Lutzomyia sherlocki. and the occurrence of mixed infections with Leishmania of both subgenera in Ps. lainsoni have been reported for t