Adult dry weights of laboratory-reared Anopheles darlingi were
highly correlated with wing lengths, which were used to
estimate size variation in natural populations of this
species. Significant differences in mean wing lengths of
females trapped at baits were detected among collections in
the same week at one site, but not between three sites in
Brazil and Bolivia. Relatively higher variability of wing
lengths, compared to collections of other Anopheles
(Nyssorhynchus), and platykurtic size distributions in large,
single-night collections suggested that An. darlingi females
caught at baits emerged from heterogenous larval habitats. No
relationship was detected between parous state and the body
size of wild-caught females. Adult males and females of
laboratory-reared An. darlingi did not differ in body size.
This absence of sexual size dimorphism is rare among
mosquitoes and has not been noted previously in the genus
Anopheles.
