The salivary gland chromosomes of Anopheles ramsayi and its relationship with Anopheles stephensi (Culicidae: Diptera).

The process of speciation, interrelationship of the species and the evolution ary trends in the family culicidae have been studied by the various workers using the banding pattern of the salivary gland chromosomes. Based on a comparison of the salivary chromosome maps the phylogenetic kinship among the various sp ecies of the genus Anopheles, studied so far, is now well understood (Schreiber 1963, Kitzmiller 1967, WHO Scientific Group 1964, 1968, Chowdaiah et al. 1971). Many anophelines form species groups in which it is possible to distinguish the various species only by chromosome studies. This had been particularly true for Anopheles gambiae complex (Coluzzi 1964a, b, 1966, Coluzzi and Sabatani 1967, 1968, Davidson 1962, 1964a, b, Davidson et al. 1967) and Anopheles mac ulipennis complex (Frizzi 1947a, b, c, d, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, a b, Kitzmil ler et al. 1967). The practical importance of the cytogenetical studies in the in sect vectors of disease is undisputed. Mosquitoes form a largest group of insects having several species of epidemiological significance in the tropical and temper ate parts of the world. In the recent years several vector species have developed resistance to the insecticides. This has consequently shifted the conventional control approaches to more sophisticated methods of population suppression through genetic means which has further increased the scope of polytene chro mosome studies. The present text includes the detailed accout of the salivary gland chromosomes of Anopheles ramsayi whose standard salivary chromosome map has been produced. The banding pattern is also compared with that of Anopheles stephensi (Sharma et al. 1969) and the cytogenetic resemblances between the two are recorded.