Characterization of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis larval habitats

A survey of #Anopheles pseudopunctipennis$ larval habitats was performed throughout most of its known geographic range. Eleven key environment variables characterized most larval habitats of this important vector of malaria in the Americas. Larval habitats occurred mainly in valley and foothill areas which were often situated in arid regions. Immatures were found primarily during the dry season in sun-exposed freshwater stream pools with clear, shallow, stagnant water containing abundant filamentous green algae and/or aquatic vegetation. (Résumé d'auteur

Genetic divergence in mitochondrial DNA of Anopheles nuneztovari (Diptera: Culicidae) from Brazil and Colombia

In the present study, we have examined the variability in Anopheles nuneztovari mitochondrial DNA of three populations from the Brazilian Amazon and one from western Colombia (Sitronela), using four restriction endonucleases (BclI, ClaI, HindIII, SstI). The haplotype diversity (h) was slightly elevated in all populations (0.5000 to 0.6765), whereas the nucleotide diversity (π) was lower in the Sitronela population (0.0029) and higher in populations from the Brazilian Amazon (0.0056 to 0.0098). The degree of sequence divergence (δ) estimated within the Brazilian Amazon and that in Sitronela (0.0329 to 0.0371) suggests that these geographic populations of A. nuneztovari may eventually constitute separate species. The low sequence divergence values among the three Brazilian Amazon populations (0.0012 to 0.0031) indicate that these populations are genetically similar. These results are consistent with those recently reported for allozymes of these same populations

Characterization of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis larval habitats

A survey of #Anopheles pseudopunctipennis$ larval habitats was performed throughout most of its known geographic range. Eleven key environment variables characterized most larval habitats of this important vector of malaria in the Americas. Larval habitats occurred mainly in valley and foothill areas which were often situated in arid regions. Immatures were found primarily during the dry season in sun-exposed freshwater stream pools with clear, shallow, stagnant water containing abundant filamentous green algae and/or aquatic vegetation. (Résumé d'auteur

Biochemical systematics and population genetic structure of Anopheles pseudpunctipennis, vector of malaria in central and South America.

An electrophoretic survey of 42 populations of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis collected throughout its known geographic distribution was performed to clarify the taxonomic status of this important malaria vector species. The results indicated strong differences in the allele frequencies of three enzyme loci (glycerol dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and phosphoglucomutase) of the 33 loci analyzed. No fixed electromorphic differences separate the populations of An. pseudopuntipennis. The populations of An. pseudopunctipennis showed little genetic divergence, with Nei distances ranging from 0 to 0.079. A comparison of An. pseudopunctipennis data with either one of three other Anopheles species showed a high genetic distance of 0.335 with a closely related species, An, franciscanus; 0.997 with An. crucians, and 2.355 with An, (Nyssorhynchus) albimanus. Geographic populations of An. pseudopunctipennis were classified into three clusters; one cluster included populations collected in North America (United States and Mexico) and Guatemala, one cluster included populations from Belize and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina); and one cluster was represented by populations from the Island of Grenada (type-locality of An. pseudopunctipennis). Based on our isozyme analyses, we defined these clusters as three geographic populations of An. pseudopunctipennis. Of the two mainland populations, one extends from the southern United States south through Mexico and Guatemala, and the other extends north from southern South America through Central America to Belize. These two geographic populations converge in southern Mexico and northern Central America. One part of the convergence zone was identified in the area of eastern Guatemala and southern Belize