Molecular species delimitation reveals high diversity in the mosquito Anopheles tessellatus Theobald, 1901 (Diptera, Culicidae) across its range.

This study describes the genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships among An. tessellatus populations in nine Asian countries at the COI gene using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic inference tree and cluster-based species delimitation approaches. These analyses reveal exceptional levels of genetic diversity in An. tessellatus populations across its known range, and identify up to six putative species in the newly determined Tessellatus Complex. The existence of such cryptic diversity has potentially important consequences for vector management and disease control. Differences in the ecologies and life histories among these species may have considerable impact on vectorial capacity and may go some way towards explaining why An. tessellatus s.l. has such varying degrees of public health importance across its range. PMID: 33358735 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Acta Tropica - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Acta Trop Source Type: research