Abstract. Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae) are insects of great importance to public health because they are transmitters of leishmaniasis. This aimed to characterize the sandflies in Neighbourhoods "Vila União" and "Terrenos Novos" in the city of Sobral, State of Ceará, Brazil, considered an endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis. Samples were collected every two weeks from August 2015 to July 2016, using CDC light traps type. 665 specimens of L. longipalpis (473 males and 192 females) were captured. These remained present throughout the collection period in the neighborhoods studied, which suggests the specie is highly competitive and well adapted to environment of Sobral, requiring that entomo-surveillance adopt preventive measures and to enable monitoring the behavior of this important vector.