Phylogeny of Anophelinae using mitochondrial proteincoding genes

Malaria is a vector-borne disease that is a great burdenon the poorest and most marginalized communities of thetropical and subtropical world. Approximately 41 species of Anopheline mosquitoes can effectively spread species of Plasmodium parasites that cause human malaria. Proposing a natural classification for the subfamily Anophelinae has been a continuous effort, addressed using both morphology and DNA sequence data. The monophyly of the genus Anopheles, and phylogenetic placement of the genus Bironella, subgenera Kerteszia, Lophopodomyia and Stethomyia within the subfamily Anophelinae, remain in question. To understand the classification of Anophelinae, we inferred the phylogeny of all three genera (Anopheles, Bironella, Chagasia) and major subgenera by analysing the aminoacid sequences of the 13 protein coding genes of 150 newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes of Anophelinae and 18 newly sequenced Culexspecies as out group taxa, supplemented with 23 mitogenomes from GenBank...

Anopheles goeldii Rozeboom & Gabaldón (Diptera, Culicidae): a species of the Nuneztovari Complex of Anopheles Meigen

Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) goeldii Rozeboom & Gabaldón, 1941, a species of the Nuneztovari Complex, was described based on morphological characteristics of the male, female, larva, pupa, and eggs. The typelocality is Boa Vista (= Fordlândia), a district in the vicinity of Rio Tapajós, in the municipality of Aveiro, in the state of Pará, Brazil. Anopheles goeldii is redescribed based on morphological traits of the fourth instar larva, pupa, egg, and male and female. DNA sequences from the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI barcoderegion) of the mitochondrial genome were utilized for species characterization. Specimens of An. goeldiifrom the Pará, Amapá, and Amazonas states were employed to redescribe the species and to compare with morphologically similar taxa...

New records of anopheles homunculus in central and serra do mar biodiversity corridors of the Atlantic forest, Brazil

Two new records of Anopheles homunculus in the eastern part of the Atlantic Forest are reported. This species was found for the first time in Barra do Ouro district, Maquiné municipality, Rio Grande do Sul state, located in the southern limit of the Atlantic Forest. The 2nd new record was in the Serra Bonita Reserve, Camacan municipality, southeast Bahia state. These records extend the geographical distribution of An. homunculus, suggesting that the species may be widely distributed in coastal areas of the Atlantic Forest. It is hypothesized that the disjunct distribution of the species may be caused by inadequate sampling, and also difficulties in species identification based only on female external characteristics. Species identification was based on morphological characters of the male, larva, and pupa, and corro borated by DNA sequence analyses, employing data from both 2nd internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA and of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I...