Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Western University, Kanchanaburi 71170, Thailand.
Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.
Trop Biomed. 2019 Dec 1;36(4):926-937.
Some species of the Anopheles dirus species complex are considered to be highly competent malaria vectors in Southeast Asia. Anopheles dirus is the primary vector of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax while An. cracens is the main vector of P. knowlesi. However, these two species are difficult to distinguish and identify based on morphological characters. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the potential use of antennal sensilla to distinguish them. Large sensilla coeloconica borne on the antennae of adult females were counted under a compound light microscope and the different types of antennal sensilla were examined in a scanning electron microscope. The antennae of both species bear five types of sensilla: ampullacea, basiconica, chaetica, coeloconica and trichodea. Observations revealed that the mean numbers of large sensilla coeloconica on antennal flagellomeres 2, 3, 7, 10 and 12 on both antennae of both species were significantly different. This study is the first to describe the types of antennal sensilla and to discover the usefulness of the large coeloconic sensilla for distinguishing the two species. The discovery provides a simple, reliable and inexpensive method for distinguishing them.
某些按蚊传播疟疾媒介种系复合体被认为是东南亚地区高度合格的疟疾传播媒介。按蚊是恶性疟原虫和间日疟原虫的主要传播媒介，而按蚊是食蟹猴疟原虫的主要传播媒介。然而，这两个物种很难根据形态特征来区分和识别。因此，本研究旨在探讨利用触角感器来区分它们的潜力。在复合显微镜下计数成年雌蚊触角上的大型腔锥形感器，并在扫描电子显微镜下检查不同类型的触角感器。这两个物种的触角都有五种类型的感器：钟形感器、刺形感器、刚毛感器、腔锥形感器和毛形感器。观察发现，两种触角的 2、3、7、10 和 12 节触角鞭节上的大型腔锥形感器的平均数量有显著差异。本研究首次描述了触角感器的类型，并发现大型腔锥形感器可用于区分这两个物种。这一发现为区分这两个物种提供了一种简单、可靠和廉价的方法。
