Annual Review of Entomology (1997) 42, 351-369
Leonard E. Munstermann and Jan E. Conn (1997)
Systematics of mosquito disease vectors (Diptera, Culicidae): Impact of molecular biology and cladistic analysis
Annual Review of Entomology 42, 351-369
Abstract: The field of medical entomology, by nature of its association with problems of human health, has been conservative in its application of molecular and computer technologies to systematic research. Recently, however, these methods have opened new interpretations for systematics of disease vectors. Medically important insects, particularly mosquitoes, are among those more thoroughly described by conventional taxonomy, and thereby provide a secure framework for testing congruencies with molecular data. In turn, molecular investigations have provided a stimulus to vector systematics in the discovery and delineation of cryptic species complexes, as well as providing new perspectives on relationships at higher taxonomic divisions. In this review, examples involving cladistic analysis, cytogenetics—in situ hybridization, isoenzymes, DNA sequencing, and restriction fragment polymorphism are drawn from the following taxa: Aedes communis; Aedes (Ochlerotatus) group G; Aedes (Stegomyia) species including A. aegypti, A. albopictus, and A. scutellaris group; Anopheles albitarsis, Anopheles dirus, Anopheles gambiae, Anopheles nuneztovari, Anopheles pseudopunctipennis, and Anopheles punctulatus groups; Culex pipiens and the Culex subgenus Melanoconion; and the tribe Sabethini.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Jan E. Conn
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy
Pest and/or beneficial records:
| Beneficial | Pest/Disease/Weed | Crop/Product | Country | Quarant.
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culex (genus) | ||||
| Aedes (genus) | ||||
| Anopheles gambiae | ||||
| Culex pipiens | ||||
| Anopheles punctulatus | ||||
| Aedes albopictus | ||||
| Aedes aegypti | ||||
| Aedes communis | ||||
| Anopheles dirus | ||||
| Anopheles nuneztovari | ||||
| Anopheles pseudopunctipennis | ||||
| Anopheles albitarsis |
