The identification of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) rondoni (Diptera: Culicidae) in Mato Grosso, Brazil: an analysis of key character variability

a morphological study was made of a population of anopheles (nyssorhynchus) rondoni (neiva and pinto) from northern mato grosso, brazil. this population usually lacked the primary key character of a dark basal band on hindtarsomere 3, i.e., hindtarsomere 3 was all white as in most other members of the subgenus. it was determined that this species can be recognized instead by the presence of a dark spot on the thorax made up of a large dark prescutellar space that is contiguous with a concolorous central area on the scutellum. a secondary character of a dark area on the costa created by the fusion of the humeral dark, presector dark and sector dark proximal spots is also usually reliable. regression analyses comparing the lengths and ratios of the dark bands on hindtarsomeres 2 to those on 3 describe a straight line relationship. this suggests that the "atypical" population is at one end of a character gradient. we propose that in the subgenus nyssorhynchus individuals that have a long basal band on hindtarsomere 2 are more likely to also have a basal band on hindtarsomere 3. the pupal stage of this species has not been previously described. reared-associated specimens from this study show that the pupa can be easily differentiated from all other nyssorhynchus by the relatively stout, usually 2 or 3 branched (1-5), setae 1 and 5 on segments iv-vii.