Abstract
Abstract By using cytogenetic analysis of larval polytene chromosomes from small samples of the Simulium arcticum complex of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) at the Coeur d'Alene River in northern Idaho in 2004 and 2005 we discovered a population that consisted of individuals having sex chromosomes characteristic of S. saxosum, S. arcticum s. s. and combinations of the two. Most taxa of the S. arcticum complex can be identified only on the basis of their well differentiated sex chromosomes, and the presence of larvae having species specific and combinational sex chromosome types presented us with a unique opportunity to further investigate this rare event. This variety of sex chromosome types could be explained if (1) sex-chromosomes in S. saxosum were operating autosomally in S. arcticum s. s. and vice-versa, (2) the combinational types were formed as a result of hybridization or (3) the population was in genetic equilibrium suggesting a unique entity. The latter possibility could be the remnant of an i...
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