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Morphological and Genetic Differences between Mosquitoes Culex vagans Wiedemann, 1828 and Culex torrentium Martini, 1925 (Diptera, Culicidae)

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Abstract

Culex torrentium and C. vagans are morphologically similar mosquito species for which the name C. exilis has been used in Russia for a long time. We have compared the male genitalia in these species and analyzed the genetic differences between them, using specimens from different parts of their ranges. The results show that C. vagans can be readily distinguished from C. torrentium by the shape of the lateral arms of the phallosome. The genetic differences between the species are 3.5–3.6% for the COI gene and 14% for the ITS2 nuclear marker and reliably differentiated the two species. The ITS2 sequence of C. vagans is determined for the first time. The data obtained can be used to identify C. vagans and C. torrentium and to specify their ranges.

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Notes

  1. The balsam slides of Culex torrentium from Orenburg, Tomsk, Yessentuki, Kislovodsk, and Leningrad Province (nos. 277, 1169, 1400) were labeled as Culex exilis or Culex exilis = C. torrentium.

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Funding

This work was carried out at the Core Facilities Center “Taxon,” using the taxonomic collection of ZIN, and financially supported by Additional State Assignment AAAA-A17117030310209-7 and 0112-2019-0002 “Genetic technologies in biology, medicine, agriculture, and nature management.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Rospotrebnadzor, 111123, Moscow, Russia

    M. V. Fedorova

  2. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    E. V. Shaikevich

  3. Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 119435, Moscow, Russia

    L. A. Ganushkina

  4. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119192, Moscow, Russia

    K. A. Sycheva

  5. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. V. Khalin

  6. Chita Anti-Plague Station, Rospotrebnadzor, 672014, Chita, Russia

    I. M. Makhinova

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  1. M. V. Fedorova
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Correspondence to M. V. Fedorova.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. All the applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All the procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted.

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Fedorova, M.V., Shaikevich, E.V., Sycheva, K.A. et al. Morphological and Genetic Differences between Mosquitoes Culex vagans Wiedemann, 1828 and Culex torrentium Martini, 1925 (Diptera, Culicidae). Entmol. Rev. 101, 767–777 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S001387382106004X

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