Malaria transmission in the Southern Colombian state of Putumayo continues despite the absence of traditional vector species, except for the presence of
Anopheles darlingi
near the southeastern border with the state of Amazonas. In order to facilitate malaria vector incrimination in Putumayo, 2445 morphologically identified Anopheles females were tested for natural infection of
Plasmodium vivax
by ELISA. Specimens tested included
An. apicimacula (n = 2),
An. benarrochi B (n = 1617),
An. darlingi (n = 29),
An. mattogrossensis (n = 7),
An. neomaculipalpus (n = 7),
An. oswaldoi (n = 362),
An. peryassui (n = 1),
An. punctimacula (n = 1),
An. rangeli (n = 413), and
An. triannulatus (n = 6). Despite being overwhelmingly the most anthropophilic species in the region and comprising 66.1% of the mosquitoes tested,
An. benarrochi B was not shown to be a vector. Thirty-five
An. rangeli and one
An. oswaldoi were naturally infected with
P. vivax VK210. Sequence data were generated for the nuclear second internal transcriber space region of 31 of these 36 vivax positive mosquitoes (86.1%) to confirm their morphological identification.
An. oswaldoi is known to be a species complex in Latin America, but its internal taxonomy remains unresolved. Herein we show that the
An. oswaldoi found in the state of Putumayo is genetically similar to specimens from the state of Amapá in Brazil and from the Ocama region in the state of Amazonas in Venezuela, and that this form harbors natural infections of
P. vivax. That
An. rangeli and this member of the
An. oswaldoi complex are incriminated as malaria vectors in Putumayo, is a novel finding of significance for malaria control in Southern Colombia, and possibly in other areas of Latin America.
