title: Comparative morphology of the pyloric armature of adult mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae).
abstract: The structure of the pyloric armature, hypothesized to aid in blood-meal digestion or parasite resistance, was compared quantitatively among the following 8 species in 5 genera of adult mosquitoes from the southeastern United States: Aedes albopictus, Aedes japonicus, Aedes triseriatus, Anopheles punctipennis, Culex pipiens s.l., Culex restuans, Orthopodomyia signifera, and Toxorhynchites rutilus. Females differed significantly among species in the structure of spines composing the armature, with Aedes spp. forming one general group, Culex spp. another, and An. punctipennis and Or. signifera a third. Relationships of species based on structural characters of the armature were consistent with recent culicid phylogenies. Although pyloric armature has been noted in mosquitoes and other insects, this is the first quantitative investigation of the mosquito pyloric armature.
authors.affiliation: 114 Long Hall, Entomology Program, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA. htuten@gmail.com
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Tuten
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Bridges
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Adler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D013022:South Carolina; D013045:Species Specificity