Abai, MR

6th International Congress of DipterologyReview of the cryptic taxa within the genus Anopheles inIran, with particular reference to the main malaria vectorsOshaghi, M.A., H. Vatandoost, M.M. Sedaghat, S.R. Nadaf, F. Yaaghobi, K. Shemshad,M.R. Abaie & K. AkbarzadehDespite decades of control success and a competent network of countrywidehealth infrastructure, malaria remains an important health threat inrural of southeast corner of Iran. Members of 3 anopheline speciescomplexes, Anopheles maculipennis, A. culicifacies, and A.fluviatilis, andalso biological forms of A.stephensi and A.superpictus, are considered tobe primary malaria vectors in the country. Representatives within the taxaare difficult or impossible to separate morphologically from one another,and insufficient information exists about population genetics betweensibling species and vector status. This review looks at the status of theIranian cryptic taxa using either nuclear rDNA ITS2 or mtDNA COI-COIIsequences which are widely used to diagnosis of cryptic taxa. Analysis ofsequence data on representatives of A.maculipennis complex revealed threegenetically distinct species of the complex: A.maculipennis Meigen,A.sacharovi Favre and a new species named as A.persiensis sp.n. Thesequence data of ITS2 regions of A.fluviatilis samples showed that fromthree known members of the complex only species T exists in Iran.Ongoing studies on members of the A.culicifacies complex in the countryconfirmed presence of species A and at least one of the other four (B,C,D,and E) members of the complex in Iran. Studies on A.stephensi showed theoccurrence of all three known biological forms: ‘type”, “intermediate” and“mysorensis” in the country. Sequence analysis of A.superpictus specimensconfirmed a new group species containing at least two members (A and B)within the taxa. The new sibling species is the first species and siblingspecies within Anopheles genus which was characterized and namedprincipally on the basis of DNA evidence. This approach has been crucialto understanding the biology of the vectors and to discriminate among themajor vectors, lesser vectors and non-vectors of ubiquitous anopheline188