Cladistic analysis of mosquito chromosome data (Anopheles (Cellia) Myzomyia

Abstract

Homologies are presented among the ovarian polytene chromosomes of the following taxa of the series Myzomyia, subgenus Cellia: Anopheles funestus, parensis, aruni? confusus, rivulorum, fuscivenosus, leesoni, demeilloni, wellcomei, and theileri from the Afrotropical region; and fluviatilis and culicifacies from the Oriental region. Rearrangements involve many paracentric inversions and a possible whole-arm translocation. A cladistic approach was used in constructing a phylogeny, and out-group comparisons were made with other species of the subgenus, primarily rufipes and stephensi of the series Neocellia. Hypotheses were based on the ancestral/derived status of each of the two alternatives of the postulated inversions. Inadequacies of the cladistic methods available for analysis of these data are discussed. The resulting phylogeny showed five groups of taxa, funestus/ confusus/ parensis/ aruni?; rivulorum/ fuscivenosus; leesoni/ fluviatilis/ culicifacies; demeilloni; and wellcomei/ theileri. Intergroup relationships are not totally clear from this sample; and almost total discontinuity occurs between the first two groups mentioned above and the other groups. The existence of taxa-specific chromosomal arrangements permits, for the first time, an unequivocal means of direct identification of wild-caught adult females in routine malariometric studies of the disease in Africa.