[Results of a karyological study of blood-sucking flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) of Armenia].

Karyotypes of 31 species of black flies belonging to 11 genera have been examined. The morphology of polytene chromosomes from salivary glands of larvae and mitotic chromosomes of gonads and ganglia have been studied. It was found that most species have 2n = 6, except the Eusimulium species, which have 2n = 4. Each species is characterised by a specific pattern of polytene chromosomes. It was found that widely spread species are polymorphic in heterozygous inversions and additional B-chromosomes. The use of karyological studies in taxonomic diagnostics of black flies, especially in the cases when species are similar morphologically, was shown to be expedient.