Cladogram construction of mosquitos based on morphological characteristics

Abstract

The mosquito identification process is very important regarding their role as vectors in many arthropod-borne diseases. The mosquito's identification based on morphological characteristics is very complex. The constraint in the identification process is the unavailability of adequate human resources. This article presents an effort to identify mosquitoes more easily based on the specific characteristics of each taxon. The aim of making a cladogram is to make it easier to identify mosquitoes in family, genus, and species taxa, especially in the genus Anopheles. Cladograms were constructed based on morphological characters on wings and their pale scale pattern, scutellum, proboscis, and palpi. The study revealed that based on morphological characters, four cladograms were constructed based on the number of wings, the number of pale scales four or more, and also less than three pale scales, that were for Genus Anopheles, Subgenus Anopheles, and two cladograms for Subgenus Cellia. The specific morphological characters in mosquitos can be used to construct the cladogram for easier identification.