Evaluation of Modern Techniques for Species Identification of Lutzia Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Thailand: Geometric Morphometrics and DNA Barcoding
Issued Date
2023-01-01
Resource Type
eISSN
20754450
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85146775581
Journal Title
Insects
Volume
14
Issue
1
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Insects Vol.14 No.1 (2023)
Suggested Citation
Laojun S., Changbunjong T., Chaiphongpachara T. Evaluation of Modern Techniques for Species Identification of Lutzia Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Thailand: Geometric Morphometrics and DNA Barcoding. Insects Vol.14 No.1 (2023). doi:10.3390/insects14010078 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/81490
Title
Evaluation of Modern Techniques for Species Identification of Lutzia Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Thailand: Geometric Morphometrics and DNA Barcoding
Author(s)
Author's Affiliation
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
There are four species of Lutzia mosquitoes in Thailand, including Lutzia chiangmaiensis, Lt. fuscana, Lt. halifaxii, and Lt. vorax. The accurate species identification of adult Lutzia mosquitoes based on morphological features requires many body parts, including the abdominal terga and wing. However, species identification is difficult in the case of damaged specimens when some of their morphological character is missing due to transit or gathering in the field. Thus, we evaluated the efficacy of the landmark-based geometric morphometric (GM) approach for the discrimination of Lutzia species in Thailand. In addition, DNA barcoding was also used in parallel with the GM approach to identify the species. Larvae of Lutzia were collected, raised into adults, and identified based on their morphological characteristics. The validated reclassification test results clearly demonstrated that wing shape resulted in a high level of success in identification (correct identifications ranged from 92.50% to 100%); however, based on the DNA barcoding analyses, our results showed that it was poorly effective in identifying Lt. fuscana and Lt. halifaxii based on an overlap between the intraspecific and interspecific divergence. Moreover, our survey results provide updates on the distribution of Lt. chiangmaiensis and Lt. vorax in Thailand. This research will help medical entomologists more efficiently identify mosquitoes in the genus Lutzia, resulting in more effective mosquito control and surveillance.