Forty-six species of
Lutzomyia
and one species of
Brumptomyia
were identified among 20,008 sand flies collected in central Amapá. L.
squamiventris maripaensis
, L.
infraspinosa
, L.
umbratilis
and L.
ubiquitalis
accounted for 66% of the specimens caught in light traps, and
L. umbratilis was the commonest of the 16 species found on tree bases. Seven species of
Lutzomyia including
L. umbratilis were collected in a plantation of Caribbean pine. Sixty out of 511 female sand flies dissected were positive for flagellates. Among the sand flies from which
Leishmania
was isolated, promastigotes were observed in the salivary glands and foregut of 13 out of 21 females scored as having very heavy infections in the remainder of the gut, reinforcing the idea that salivary gland invasion may be part of the normal life cycle of
Leishmania in nature. Salivary gland infections were detected in specimens of
L. umbratilis, L.
whitmani
and L.
spathotrichia
. Parasites isolated from
L. umbratilis,
L. whitmani and also from one specimen of
L. dendrophyla containing the remains of a bloodmeal, were compatible with
Le. guyanensis by morphology and behaviour in hamsters.