Article
Unraveling biotypes of the northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens s.l. (Diptera: Culicidae): molecular differentiation and morphometric analysis
Autor
Alvial, Ingrid E.
Hernández-P, Raquel
Suazo, Manuel J
González, Christian R.
Véliz, David
Benítez, Hugo A.
Institución
Resumen
Geometric morphometrics was used to determine whether geographic isolation could explain differences
in wing size and shape between and within continental (27°S to 41°S) and insular (Rapa Nui) populations
of Culex pipiens s.s. Linnaeus and their biotypes (f. pipiens and f. molestus). Molecular protocols based on
polymorphisms in the second intron of nuclear locus ace-2 (acetylcholinesterase-2) were used to differentiate
Cx. pipiens s.s. from Cx. quinquefasciatus Say, and an assay based on polymorphisms in the fanking region of
a microsatellite locus (CQ11) was used to identify biotypes. Culex pipiens f. molestus and hybrids shared larval
habitats in all continental sites, while Cx. pipiens f. pipiens was found in 5 of the 10 sites. Only biotype molestus
was found in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Pipiens and molestus biotypes occur sympatrically in aboveground
locations, and only molestus was found in the underground site (ME). Biotype molestus was dominant in rural
locations and preferably anthropophilic. These results agree with the ecological descriptions previously reported for the biotypes of Cx. pipiens s.s. Procrustes ANOVA only showed differences in centroid size between
biotypes in females and males and did not show signifcant differences in wing shape. However, we found
signifcant differences among the geographic areas in the centroid size and wing shape of both females and
males. Particularly, the population of Rapa Nui Island had shorter wings than the continental populations. The
results highlight the effects of geographic and environmental processes on morphotypes in vector mosquitoes.