Scanning electron microscopy of the cibarial armature of species in the Anopheles dirus complex (Diptera: Culicidae).
The structure of the cibarial armature of mosquitoes has been found to be useful for taxonomic identification. We used a scanning electron micrograph to examine the cibarial armature of 4 of 5 species in the Anopheles dirus complex existing in Thailand: Anopheles dirus Peyton & Harrison, and An. cracens Sallum & Peyton, An. scanloni Sallum & Peyton, and An. baimaii Sallum & Peyton. In all species examined, there was only 1 row of large teeth or cones (modes = 12) characteristic of the Neomyzomyia series. The cones usually have anterior spines and a fimbriated or deeply cleft tip. No significant differences were observed among the 4 species examined, thus the cibarial armature has little value for taxonomic differentiation among these species. However, they appear different from closely related species in the Leucosphyrus complex reported previously.
Somboon
Pradya
P
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. psomboon@med.cmu.ac.th
Yamniam
Kritiya
K
Walton
Catherine
C
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning