Biological validity of a morphological species Anopheles takasagoensis Morishita, 1946

Abstract

Hybridization tests were performed between a morphological species, Anopheles (An.) takasagoensis elevated by Peyton and Harrison (1980) and four other taxa of the An. balabacensis complex (Kanda et al. 1983). From these tests validity of An. takasagoensis could be assessed and its phylogenic relationships to the following taxa were revised. The taxa used were: A taxon from Taiwan (TSG), the same colony of which was used for morphological identification by Peyton and Harrison (1980), two taxa from Kanchanaburi (KCH) and Chantaburi (CTB) in Thailand, and two taxa from Perlis (IMR) and Kotabelud, Sabah (KTD) in Malaysia. From these tests, the crosses between TSG and KTD yielded both fertile sexes of F1hybrids. This meant lack of reproductive isolation between these two taxa. Results of other crosses between TSG and the other three taxa, KCH, CTB, and IMR showed a similar divergence to those of the crosses within the An. balabacensis complex. Therefore, An. takasagoensis is not a separate species from the balabacensis complex. © 1985, The Genetics Society of Japan. All rights reserved.