Cladistic analysis of polytene chromosome rearrangements in anopheline mosquitoes, subgenus Cellia, series Neocellia

Abstract

New data on rearrangements of ovarian polytene chromosomes from mosquitoes are presented for the following species in the series Neocellia of Anopheles (Cellia): A. annularis, A. philippinensis, A. niveipes, A. splendidus, A. jamesii and A. ramsayi. Rearrangement has involved fixation of alternatives for paracentric inversions. Two fixed inversion differences allow for the 1st time the direct identificaiton of wild-caught females of a. philippinensis and nivipes. There is a suggestion that the latter nominal species may include 2 genetic species. These data and those published for close relative sare drawn together in a cladistic analysis to suggest relationships between the species. The data are limited and total relationships are not clear within the group.