An understanding of the taxonomic status and vector distribution of anophelines is crucial to malaria control efforts. Previous phylogenetic analyses have supported the description of six species of the Neotropical malaria vector Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albitarsis s.l. (Diptera: Culicidae): Anopheles albitarsis, An. deaneorum, An. marajoara, An. oryzalimnetes, An. janconnae and An. albitarsis F. To evaluate the taxonomic status of An. albitarsis s.l. mosquitoes collected in various localities of the Colombian Caribbean region, specimens were analyzed using the complete mtDNA Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene, the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region and partial nuclear DNA White gene sequences. Phylogenetic analyses of the COI sequences detected a new lineage near An. janconnae in the Caribbean region of Colombia and determined its position relative to the other members of the complex. However, the ITS2 and White gene sequences lacked resolution to support a new lineage near An. janconnae or the An. janconnae clade. Nothing is known about the possible involvement in malaria transmission in Colombia of this new lineage, but its phylogenetic closeness to Anopheles janconnae, which has been incriminated in local malaria transmission in Brazil, is provocative.

: We describe the first microsatellites for rockfishes in the diverse genus Sebastes. Clones containing microsatellites were isolated from the genomic library of a quillback rockfish, Sebastes maliger. Twelve microsatellites are characterized; six of these are polymorphic in quillback rockfish, and eight are polymorphic in at least one rockfish species on which they were tested. The number of alleles per variable locus ranged from 4 to 15 and averaged 6.8. The expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.38 to 0.79 and averaged 0.60 in these loci. These loci should prove valuable in studies examining species identification, population genetics, hybridization, paternity, kinship, and microsatellite evolution.

The nucleotide variation and structural patterns of mitochondrial RNA molecule have been proposed as useful tools in molecular systematics; however, their usefulness is always subject to a proper assessment of homology in the sequence alignment. The present study describes the secondary structure of mitochondrial tRNA for the amino acid serine (UCN) on 13 Euptychiina species and the evaluation of its potential use for evolutionary studies in this group of butterflies. The secondary structure of tRNAs showed variation among the included species except between Hermeuptychia sp1 and sp2. Variation was concentrated in the ribotimidina-pseudouridine-cystosine (TψC), dihydrouridine (DHU) and variable loops and in the DHU and TψC arms. These results suggest this region as a potential marker useful for taxonomic differentiation of species in this group and also confirm the importance of including information from the secondary structure of tRNA to optimize the alignments.

-Oleria (Olerinii tribe) is a genus of great ecological and evolutionary importance among the Ithomiinae (Nymphalidae). Species identifi cation is very complex since most of them are involved in mimicry rings and share large morphological similarities. Ithomiinae specimens collected in the Antioquia Southwest -Colombia, showed confuse wing color pattern generating diffi culties to defi ne the presence of one or two species at the sampled region. Collected specimens were studied in detail using male and female genitalia and nucleotide sequences besides traditional character of wing color and venation. Oleria makrena (Hewitson) and Oleria fumata (Haensch) were registered and the relative utility of each character for species identifi cation was defi ned. For males, wing color pattern was enough to differentiate both species, and the separation of specimens by this character was congruent with the separation obtained by using genitalia and DNA sequences. However, for females, wing patterns were not enough for the adequate separation or species and genitalia-based characters were necessary. DNA sequences of a short fragment of the mitochondrial gene ND4 allowed for the rapid and precise differentiation of both species, coinciding with the separation using genitalia for both males and females. The analysis of 579 base pairs (bp) indicated 46 nucleotide differences between both species. KEY WORDS: Wing coloration pattern, genitalia, mitochondrial DNA, sympatric species, species differentiation RESUMEN-Oleria spp. (tribu Olerinii) es un género de gran interés a nivel ecológico y evolutivo entre los Ithomiinae. La identifi cación de sus especies con base en caracteres morfológicos puede ser compleja debido a que la mayoría de ellas están involucradas en anillos miméticos y poseen grandes similitudes. En muestreos de mariposas ithomiinae realizados en el Suroeste Antioqueño, Colombia, se encontraron especímenes con patrones alares que difi cultaron el registro de una o dos especies en la zona de estudio. Los especímenes se examinaron en detalle incluyendo observaciones de los genitales de machos y hembras y obtención de secuencias nucleotídicas además de los caracteres tradicionales de venación y coloración alar. Se verifi có la presencia de Oleria makrena (Hewitson) y Oleria fumata (Haensch) y se precisó la utilidad de cada uno de los caracteres en la diferenciación de las dos especies. En los machos, la separación de ambas especies pudo realizarse con base en la morfología alar y coincidió con la realizada mediante los genitales y las secuencias de ADN. Sin embargo, en el caso de las hembras los patrones de venación alar fueron confusos y se requirió el uso de los genitales. Las secuencias de la región corta de ADN (gen ND4) usada, permitieron realizar una diferenciación rápida y acertada de las especies que coincidió con la obtenida por los genitales tanto femeninos como masculinos. El análisis del fragmento de 579 pb señaló la existencia de 46 diferencias nucleotídicas entre las dos especies.

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