The sand fly, Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva) reputedly is a complex of cryptic species; however, there is currently no consensus as to the number of species in the complex or their geographic distributions. We conducted phylogenetic analyses of 31 populations from throughout the species range, using seven isozyme loci and genes in the mitochondrial genome. Analyses of these two independent sets of markers were largely concordant and revealed four distinct clades that support the existence of four species. The four clades have distinct geographic ranges: (1) Brazil (Species A = Lu. longipalpis sensu stricto), (2) Laran (Species B = Lu. pseudolongipalpis), (3) cis-Andean (Species C), and (4) trans-Andean (Species D). The cis-Andean clade may be subdivided further into two groups, one in Colombia and one in northwestern Venezuela, but their taxonomic status remains unresolved. Knowledge that Lu. longipalpis is a complex of species may ultimately shed light on anomalies in the epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis in the New World.
This study represents the first attempt to understand the current distribution and evolutionary history of Culicidae in Venezuela and adjacent areas using cladistic methods. We studied the association between immature mosquitoes and their aquatic habitats in plants (phytotelmata) in 16 protected natural areas of Venezuela. A total of 68 mosquito species was collected from 47 host-plant species. Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity using localities and mosquito species was used to find the most parsimonious cladograms depicting the biogeographic relationships. Varying degrees of mosquito-plant associations were observed, with the greatest specificity existing at the genus and subgenus levels. Implicit enumeration algorithms obtained one parsimonious tree (L=101 steps) with four well-supported groups named "Amazonas" (southern Venezuela), “Bolivar” (southeastern Venezuela), "Los Andes Cordillera” and "Coastal Cordillera" (northern Caribbean mountain range). These results support the hypothesis that the Guayana Shield was an ancestral center of speciation, followed by the Andean Region, whereas the mosquito fauna from the Central Cordillera was derived from the latter.
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