Entomological Review (2009) 89, 390-398
E.B. Vinogradova and S.B. Ivnitsky (2009)
Variability of quantitative morphological traits of mosquito larvae in some species of the Culex pipiens complex (Diptera, Culicidae)
Entomological Review 89 (4), 390-398
Abstract: The variability of 13 larval morphological characteristics in the urban mosquito, Culex pipiens f. molestus and Culex torrentium, was investigated. These species, belonging to the Culex pipiens complex, are characterized by rapid ecological and evolutionary processes following the human-induced environmental changes. A comparison of 4 geographical larval populations of C. pipiens f. molestus and Culex torrentium revealed different rates of divergence of different morphological traits. In the older form in terms of evolutionary development, C. torrentium, the two local populations differed in the structures of the trophic morphological complex characterized by a higher functional trophic load, while the structures with a lower functional load did not differ between the populations. On the contrary, the populations of the younger form, C. pipiens f. molestus, which had recently colonized new urban sites, differed in the structures with a low functional trophic load (some structures of siphon and abdominal segment IX), whereas structures of the trophic morphological complex were similar in different populations. The possible mechanisms of these morphological transformations and their role in the evolution of mosquito larvae are discussed.
Original Russian Text © E.B. Vinogradova, S.B. Ivnitsky, 2009, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2009, Vol. 88, No. 6, pp. 685-693.
(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): Elena B. Vinogradova
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy
Pest and/or beneficial records:
| Beneficial | Pest/Disease/Weed | Crop/Product | Country | Quarant.
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culex molestus | ||||
| Culex torrentium |
