Assessment of wing geometric morphometrics of urban Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) populations

•We investigated the phenotypic variation in Culex quinquefasciatus populations in urban parks.•Wing shape and size from female Cx. quinquefasciatus were analyzed using geometric morphometrics.•Moderately heterogeneous wing patterns between the Cx. quinquefascitus populations were found.•Loss of nat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta tropica 2023-09, Vol.245, p.106971-106971, Article 106971
Main Authors: Oliveira-Christe, Rafael, de Carvalho, Gabriela Cristina, Wilke, André Barretto Bruno, Marrelli, Mauro Toledo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arbovirus
Microevolution
Mosquitoes
Urban parks
Urbanization
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Summary:•We investigated the phenotypic variation in Culex quinquefasciatus populations in urban parks.•Wing shape and size from female Cx. quinquefasciatus were analyzed using geometric morphometrics.•Moderately heterogeneous wing patterns between the Cx. quinquefascitus populations were found.•Loss of native vegetation and increased availability of artificial containers could be affecting the wing patterns of Cx. quinquefasciatus populations in the studied areas. Culex quinquefasciatus is a cosmopolitan species distributed throughout tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The species is of great epidemiological importance as it is responsible for vectoring the causative agent of lymphatic filariasis and several arboviruses, including West Nile virus. Wing geometric morphometrics has been widely used to assess phenotypic variations in mosquito species. Here, we hypothesize that Cx. quinquefasciatus populations in urban parks in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, have been subjected to anthropogenic selective pressures that are responsible for driving their ecology and behavior. Mosquitoes were collected by CDC traps in five municipal parks in the city of São Paulo. Eighteen anatomical landmark coordinates on each female right wing were digitized. Canonical variate analysis, wireframe graphs, cross-validated reclassification tests and the neighbor-joining method were used to assess phenotypical dissimilarity in wing shape between populations. Centroid size was calculated to assess differences in wing size between populations, which can result from different environmental conditions during immature mosquito development. Moderately heterogeneous wing shape and wing size patterns were found in the populations analyzed, indicating that selective pressures in the urban environment are affecting the wing patterns of Cx. quinquefasciatus populations in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Canonical variate analysis revealed homogeneous patterns of wing shape variations in the Cx. quinquefasciatus populations although some populations (BMX and ANH) were slightly different from the others, while ALV, IBR and PIQ populations displayed singular wing-variation patterns. The NJ tree, constructed using Mahalanobis distances, showed that the ANH population was the most distinct population. [Display omitted]
ISSN:0001-706X
1873-6254
DOI:10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106971