Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2020), doi: 10.1111/mve.12494 First record of larval microhabitats of sandflies in Mexico with the description of the fourth instar larva of Brumptomyia hamata A. C. M O N T E S D E O C A- A G U I L A R 1 , S. I B Á Ñ E Z- B E R N A L 2 and E. A. R E B O L L A R- T É L L E Z 3 1 Laboratorio de Inmunología del Centro de Investigaciones Regionales “Dr. Hideyo Noguchi”, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico, 2 Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red Ambiente y Sustentabilidad, Xalapa, Mexico and 3 Laboratorio de Entomología Médica, Departamento de Zoología de Invertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Universidad S/N, Cd. Universitaria, San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico Abstract. Despite the medical importance of sandfies as vectors (Diptera: Phlebotom- inae) of Leishmania spp., immature stages of phlebotomine sandfies have never been found in the wild in Mexico. In the present investigation, we sought to identify specifc microhabitats associated with the presence of sandfy immature stages. Field work was conducted in 11 localities of the Yucatan Peninsula and we collected soil samples from each site during two periods (November 2007 to April 2008, November 2008). Soil sam- ples were transported to our base camp and were processed using the Berlese’s funnels. We processed a total 242 soil samples with an average weight of 362 ± (SD) 317 gr. From these samples, we were able to recover 51 phlebotomine larvae in fve different microhabitats and largest number was obtained from mammal burrows (88%) and from tree-buttresses of Brosimium alicastrum (Berg) (6%). We identifed larval microhabitat for Brumptomyia hamata (Fairchild & Hertig) and those specimens provided the mate- rial to describe for the frst time the fourth instar larva. We also include information of a larval microhabitat of Lutzomyia cruciata (Coquillett). In addition, we recorded a total of 4872 arthropods from 15 taxa in all those soil samples in which sandfy larvae were found, being Collembola (76%) and Acari (10%) the most abundant. Key words. Chaetotaxy, immature stages, neotropical region, Phlebotominae, Yucatan Peninsula. Introduction Phlebotomine sandfies have been studied in terms of their eco- logical and epidemiological interest because some species are responsible for transmitting arboviruses, bacteria and protozoan between humans and wild animals (Rangel & Lainson, 2009). Leishmaniasis, whose etiological agent is Leishmania spp. (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), is one of the most impor- tant tropical diseases related with members of this subfamily. Despite the medical importance of sandfies, there are still some Correspondence: E. A. Rebollar-Téllez, Laboratorio de Entomología Médica, Departamento de Zoología de Invertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Av. Universidad S/N, Cd. Universitaria, C.P. 66450, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, México. eduardo.rebollartl@uanl.edu.mx outstanding questions regarding the biology and ecology of immature stages. In contrast to other Psychodidae subfamilies, the life history of Phlebotominae sandfies comprises not aquatic or semiaquatic immature stages (Killick-Kendrick, 1999), and perhaps this has been the main reason preventing the fnding of phlebotomine immature stages in nature. In fact, the knowledge about suitable microhabitats, larval survival, successful develop- ment and the immature morphology and taxonomy are relatively scarce even for species of medical relevance. In other studies, very few larvae have been recovered from diverse habitats using © 2020 The Royal Entomological Society 1