An updated list of mosquito species in Armenia and Transcaucasian region responsible for Dirofilaria transmission: A review.

Canine dirofilariasis is a world-wide distributed mosquito-borne helminthiasis that has a potential zoonotic impact. This disease is a serious problem in Southern Caucasus region, including Armenia. Average extensity of Dirofilaria infection in canids in Armenia is 26.9%. At present, 77 mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) are presumed to have a role in the transmission of dirofilariasis. 80 species of Culicidae family mosquitoes are registered in Southern Caucasus Region, and 31 of them are described in Armenia. The following species of Culicidae can serve as vectors of Dirofilaria spp. in Armenia: Aedes vexans, Ae. caspius, Ae. albopictus, Ae. geniculatus, Culex pipiens, Cx. theileri, Cx. modestus, Anopheles maculipennis s.s., An. claviger, An. hyrcanus, An. superpictus, Coquillettidia richardi, Culiseta annulata and Uranotaenia unguiculta. We see a risk of transmission in active foci of dirofilariasis, as well as for human infection in Armenia. Comprehensive research should be conducted on detection of microfilariae in the target mosquito species and in target localities.

New Cytogenetic Photomap and Molecular Diagnostics for the Cryptic Species of the Malaria Mosquitoes Anopheles messeae and Anopheles daciae from Eurasia.

The Eurasian malaria vector Anopheles messeae is a widely spread and genetically diverse species. Five widespread polymorphic chromosomal inversions were found in natural populations of this mosquito. A cryptic species, Anopheles daciae, was differentiated from An. messeae by the presence of several nucleotide substitutions in the Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) region of ribosomal DNA. However, because of the absence of a high-quality reference cytogenetic map, the inversion polymorphisms in An. daciae and An. messeae remain poorly understood. Moreover, a recently determined heterogeneity in ITS2 in An. daciae questioned the accuracy of the previously used Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) assay for species diagnostics. In this study, a standard-universal cytogenetic map was constructed based on orcein stained images of chromosomes from salivary glands for population studies of the chromosomal inversions that can be used for both An. messeae and An. daciae. In addition, a new ITS2-RFLP approach for species diagnostics was developed. Both methods were applied to characterize inversion polymorphism in populations of An. messeae and An. daciae from a single location in Western Siberia in Russia. The analysis demonstrates that cryptic species are remarkably different in their frequencies of chromosomal inversion variants. Our study supports previous observations that An. messeae has higher inversion polymorphism in all autosomes than the cryptic species An. daciae.