The morphologically similar taxa
Anopheles calderoni
,
Anopheles punctimacula
,
Anopheles malefactor
and
Anopheles guarao
are commonly misidentified.
Isofamilies collected in Valle de Cauca, Colombia, showed morphological characters most similar to
An. calderoni, a species which has never previously been reported in Colombia. Although
discontinuity of the postsubcostal pale spots on the costa (C) and first radial (R
1
) wing veins is purportedly diagnostic
for
An. calderoni, the degree of overlap of the distal postsubcostal spot on C and R
1
were variable in Colombian specimens (0.003-0.024). In addition, in 98.2% of larvae, seta 1-X was located off the saddle and seta 3-C had 4-7 branches
in 86.7% of specimens examined. Correlation of DNA sequences of the second internal transcribed spacer and mtDNA
cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI) barcodes (658 bp of the COI gene) generated from Colombian progeny
material and wild-caught mosquitoes from Ecuador with those from the Peruvian type series of
An. calderoni confirmed
new country records. DNA barcodes generated for the closely related taxa,
An. malefactor and
An. punctimacula are
also presented for the first time. Examination of museum specimens at the University of the Valle, Colombia, revealed
the presence of
An. calderoni in inland localities across Colombia and at elevations up to 1113 m.
