Size and shape variations in wing morphology of Anopheles maculipennis s.s. Meigen, 1818 (Diptera: Culicidae) from northeastern Turkey

Abstract

Anopheles maculipennis Meigen, 1818 (Diptera: Culicidae) complex was discovered as the first sibling species complex among mosquito species and identified as a highly important malaria vector in the Middle East and Europe. Anopheles maculipennis s.s. is the nominotypical member species of the complex, and widely spread across the whole of Europe. Body size and shape are the most important characters of organisms and is related to numerous variables. Biological size and shape may be affected by altitude and altitudinal differences. In this study, the variation in wing size and shape of An. maculipennis s.s. populations collected from four sampling stations in Iğdır Province (Mürşitali, Sürmeli, Yukarıçıyrıklı and Zülfikarköy) and two sampling stations in Kars Province (Kötek and Kozlu) at different altitudes and in different habitats from northeastern Turkey in 2019 were investigated. It was assumed that altitude and the environmental differences related with altitude may affect the wing (body) size or shape of An. maculipennis s.s. This is the first comparative geometric morphometric study of An. maculipennis s.s. populations in Turkey and the results indicate size and shape differences among some populations. While centroid size did not show a linear association with altitude, samples from the highest altitude population had larger wings than the other populations.