[The population-and-species-specific structure of malaria (Diptera, Culicidae) mosquitoes in the Caspian Lowland and Kuma-Manych Hollow].

The authors studied the population-and-species-specific structure of malaria mosquitoes in the Caspian Lowland and Kuma-Manych Hollow (Republic of Kalmykia, Stavropol Territory). Five Anopheles mosquito species were identified. An. messeae and An. atroparvus were dominant; An. maculipennis, An. hyrcanus, and An. sacharovi were ecologically specialized and relatively rare. An. sacharovi was first found in Kalmykia, which is the most dangerous malaria vector in the south regions of the CIS. This allows the former known borders of its area to be expanded to the northwest Paleartics. An. messeae showed a high rate of inversions along both arms of chromosome 3 in homo- and heterozygous states, as well as a unique inversion in sex chromosome. The An. atroparvus population in the region was found to have a high rate of inversion on the 3L arm, which had been previously recognized as rare in Ukraine only.