Anopheles (Anopheles) petragnani Del Vecchio 1939-a new mosquito species for Germany.

Norbert Becker,Wolf Peter Pfitzner,Christina Czajka,Achim Kaiser,Thomas Weitzel

doi:10.1007/s00436-016-5014-5

Norbert Becker, Wolf Peter Pfitzner + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5014-5

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Journal: Parasitology Research	Publication Date: Mar 22, 2016
Citations: 10	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Heidelberg University

Abstract

The so far known species of the Anopheles Claviger Complex, Anopheles claviger s.s. and Anopheles petragnani, can only be distinguished by partial overlapping characteristics of immature stages and by nucleotide sequence variation of the genomic ribosomal DNA (rDNA) internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region. The known distribution of An. petragnani is so far restricted to the western Mediterranean region, whereas An. claviger s.s. occurs across most of Europe, up to the Middle East and North Africa. In our study, we investigated the larval mosquito fauna in rock pools of the Murg valley (Black Forest, Germany) once a month from April to December 2015.Among other species, larvae belonging to the Anopheles Claviger Complex were found. The fourth instar larvae were morphologically identified by chaetotaxy of the head and abdomen. The results were confirmed by a multiplex PCR and additional sequencing of the amplificates.Of the 1289 collected larvae from the rock pools, seven belonged to the Anopheles Claviger Complex. Five individuals were determined morphologically as An. petragnani and two as An. claviger s.s. The associated mosquito fauna comprised of Aedes japonicus japonicus (548 individuals), Culex pipiens s.l. and Culex torrentium (493 individuals) and Culex hortensis (241 individuals).This is the first record of An. petragnani north of the Alps. Further studies will reveal whether this is an isolated population of An. petragnani and if the investigated rock pool breeding sites represent typical habitats of this species in temperate regions in Central Europe.

Highlights

Anopheles (Anopheles) claviger s.s. (Meigen, 1804) and Anopheles (Anopheles) petragnani Del Vecchio, 1939 are sibling species, forming the Anopheles Claviger Complex, as males and females cannot be distinguished by morphological characteristics
In two of the 12 analysed Murg rock pools, seven anopheline larvae were sampled in August and September 2015
The total mosquito fauna in the rock pools was assayed by 1050 dips and included 1289 mosquito larvae

Summary

Introduction

Anopheles (Anopheles) claviger s.s. (Meigen, 1804) and Anopheles (Anopheles) petragnani Del Vecchio, 1939 are sibling species, forming the Anopheles Claviger Complex, as males and females cannot be distinguished by morphological characteristics. (Meigen, 1804) and Anopheles (Anopheles) petragnani Del Vecchio, 1939 are sibling species, forming the Anopheles Claviger Complex, as males and females cannot be distinguished by morphological characteristics. Both species differ considerably in their egg, larval and pupal morphology, as well as in their adult behaviour. An. petragnani was first described by Del Vecchio in 1939 as a variety of An. claviger, distinguished by the shape of the eggs (Del Vecchio 1939). Coluzzi highlighted the larval and pupal differences between these forms and proved, using cross-mating studies, that they are two distinct species (Coluzzi 1960; Coluzzi 1962).

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