['Parasites of the genus Leishmania cause a broad spectrum of diseases, collectively known as leishmaniasis, in humans worldwide. American cutaneous leishmaniasis is a neglected disease transmitted by sand fly vectors including Lutzomyia intermedia, a proven vector. The female sand fly can acquire or deliver Leishmania spp. parasites while feeding on a blood meal, which is required for nutrition, egg development and survival. The microbiota composition and abundance varies by food source, life stages and physiological conditions. The sand fly microbiota can affect parasite life-cycle in the vector.', 'We performed a metagenomic analysis for microbiota composition and abundance in Lu. intermedia, from an endemic area in Brazil. The adult insects were collected using CDC light traps, morphologically identified, carefully sterilized, dissected under a microscope and the females separated into groups according to their physiological condition: (i) absence of blood meal (unfed\u2009=\u2009UN); (ii) presence of blood meal (blood-fed\u2009=\u2009BF); and (iii) presence of developed ovaries (gravid\u2009=\u2009GR). Then, they were processed for metagenomics with Illumina Hiseq Sequencing in order to be sequence analyzed and to obtain the taxonomic profiles of the microbiota.', 'Bacterial metagenomic analysis revealed differences in microbiota composition based upon the distinct physiological stages of the adult insect. Sequence identification revealed two phyla (Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria), 11 families and 15 genera; 87\xa0% of the bacteria were Gram-negative, while only one family and two genera were identified as Gram-positive. The genera Ochrobactrum, Bradyrhizobium and Pseudomonas were found across all of the groups.'] Do bacterial diversity of the American sand fly Lutzomyia intermedia using high-throughput metagenomic sequencing?