Identification of Anopheles minimus complex and related species in Vietnam.

ABSTRACT

Anopheles minimus A and C and several closely related species of mosquitoes have been identified in Vietnam, where some have been implicated in malaria transmission. Morphological variation within and between Anopheles minimus A and C makes identification using alpha taxonomy difficult and several molecular techniques have been developed to separate them. However the difficulties of applying these techniques and the benefits of morphological identification in the field have seen morphological characteristics, such as the humeral pale spot on the costa, being used to separate these two species. In this study, the morphological and molecular examinations of 2,206 specimens collected in Vietnam indicate that pale scaling on the proboscis reliably separates An. aconitus from An. minimus s.l., but hind tarsal banding cannot separate An. jeyporiensis from An. minimus s.l., and the presence or absence of the humeral pale spot is not a reliable characteristic for differentiating An. minimus A from C due to variation of this characteristic in An. minimus C.