The subgenus Paraphlebotomus of Phlebotomus includes several sand fly vectors of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. A new species of the subgenus Paraphlebotomus, named Phlebotomus gemetchi is described from the volcanic blisters by the shore of lake Beseka near Metahara, Upper Awash Valley, in the Rift Valley of eastern Ethiopia. The presence of one distinct character in the male genitalia (a bifurcating ‘y’-shaped spine at the middle of the style) and three characters in the female (lengths of the fourth antennal and palpal segments and labrum) easily distinguish it from the other Afrotropical species recorded in East Africa including Ethiopia. The new species is 1 of 5 species representing the subgenus in Ethiopia as well as the rest of the Afrotropical Region. The distribution and medical importance of this sand fly species requires further investigation.