Sand flies are tiny insects about 3 mm long, they have long, piercing mouthparts that are well adapted for sucking blood from their host. Sand flies hold their hairy-looking wings in a vertical V-shape when at rest, a characteristic that distinguishes them from some other small flies. Human skin odors, produced by bacteria from skin microbiota, are known to attract these pests. The skin sores of cutaneous leishmaniasis usually develop within a few weeks or months of the sand fly bite.
