Anopheles pseudopunctipennis, Theobald, 1901

Harbach, Ralph E. & Wilkerson, Richard C., 2023, The insupportable validity of mosquito subspecies (Diptera: Culicidae) and their exclusion from culicid classification, Zootaxa 5303 (1), pp. 1-184 : 60

Anopheles pseudopunctipennis sensu lato in Argentina

Three taxa of the Pseudopunctipennis Complex have been described from Argentina: Proterorhynchus argentinus Brèthes, 1912 (currently a junior synonym of pseudopunctipennis ), type locality: Tucumán ( Belkin et al. 1968 [list of “ type locality” sites repeated in the literature refers only to where Brèthes thought this species transmitted malaria]); Anopheles tucumanus Lahille, 1912 (currently a junior synonym of An. pseudopunctipennis ), type locality: Banks of the Rio Salí, Tucumán and Santiago del Estero Provinces; and Anopheles patersoni Alvarado & Heredia, 1947 (currently a subspecies of An. pseudopunctipennis ), type locality: Tucumán.

Dantur Juri et al. (2014), in a population genetics study using the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene, sampled 12 localities, that included the above type localities, in the Yungas ecological region in northwestern Argentina. The Yungas is a highland zone on the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains, which has a rainy, humid and warm climate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungas, accessed 4 June 2021). Similar Yungas regions also occur in Bolivia and Peru, suggesting potential additional habitat for the species discussed below. Dantur Juri et al. stated: “The demographic pattern [of COI haplotypes] suggests that An. pseudopunctipennis has undergone a single colonization process, and the ancestral haplotype is shared by specimens from all localities, indicating mitochondrial gene flow. Genetic differentiation was minimal, observed only between one northern and one southern locality.” Since no other related species have been recorded in this area, we conclude that the above three names represent the same species. Extensive geographic distance, egg morphology and different habitat ecologies all enforce our opinion that the Argentinian taxon is genetically distinct from An. pseudopunctipennis sensu stricto found on Granada (see above under An. pseudopunctipennis sensu stricto). Subspecies patersoni (as a pseudopunctipennis variety) was named based on egg characters in comparison to “typicus”, i.e. pseudopunctipennis sensu stricto and An. franciscanus and two of its synonyms, An. boydi Vargas, 1939 and An. willardi Vargas, 1941 . The two current synonyms of An. pseudopunctipennis , argentinus Brèthes, 1912 and tucumanus Lahille, 1912 , both have priority over patersoni , with publication dates of 27 July and 4 October, respectively, thus making argentinus Brèthes the senior synonym, not patersoni . Accordingly, Anopheles (Anopheles) argentinus ( Brèthes, 1912) is retrieved from synonymy with pseudopunctipennis , patersoni is made a junior synonym of argentinus and tucumanus is changed from a junior synonym of pseudopunctipennis to a junior synonym of argentinus : patersoni Alvarado & Heredia, 1947 and tucumanus Lahille, 1912 , junior subjective synonyms of Anopheles (Anopheles) argentinus ( Brèthes, 1912) . Consequently, “ Anopheles patersoni ” should be removed from the list of Anopheles recorded in the Encyclopedia of Life, and Anopheles argentinus should be added to the list.