Geometric morphometrics to distinguish the cryptic species Anopheles minimus and An. harrisoni in malaria hot spot villages, western Thailand.

ABSTRACT: Anopheles minimus Theobald 1901 and An. harrisoni Harbach & Manguin 2007 belong to the same species complex. They are morphologically similar and can exist in sympatry but have blood host preferences. The most accurate method for their identification is based on molecular techniques. Here, we measure the level of interspecific discrimination by geometric morphometry. Sixty-seven An. minimus and 22 An. harrisoni specimens were selected based on their morphological integrity and confirmed by identification polymerase chain reaction of internal transcribed spacer 2. These samples were used as reference data allowing for a morphometric identification based on geometric shape. Despite size overlap between the two species, there was a significant shape divergence allowing for differentiation of

SUBMITTER: Chatpiyaphat K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8451769 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature