A B O U T THE VALIDITY OF THE RATIO A I I I / E P
TO DISTINGUISH PHLEBOTOMUS PERNICIOSUS AND PHLEBOTOMUS LONGICUSPIS (DIPTERA, PSYCHODIDAE)
COLLANTES F. & MARTÍNEZ-ORTEGA E.
Summary :
In Southeast of the Iberian Peninsule the ratio length of thitd antennal article ovet the length of the epipharynx (AIII/EP) is not useful in order to distinguish these two species. The distributions of frequencies coincide and both species have the same mean for this character.
KEY WORDS : Larroussius, Phlebotomus perniciosus, Phlebotomus longicuspis, phlebotomine sandflies, biometry.
Parrot ( 1 9 3 6 ) withdrew the variety longicuspis Nitzu- lescu, 1 9 3 T from P. langeroni Nitzulescu, 1 9 3 0 , and e r e c t e d it as a valid s p e c i e s . He thought it was very c l o s e to P. perniciosas Newstead, 1 9 1 1 , and p r o p o s e d the ratio b e t w e e n the length o f the third antennal article and the length o f the e p i p h a r y n x (AIII/EP) as m e a n s o f distinguishing both s p e c i e s . H o w e v e r there is an overlap in the range values w h i c h m e a n s that the t a x o n o m i c identity o f s o m e s p e c i m e n s can not b e established.
T h e validity o f these two s p e c i e s w a s not discussed until Morillas-Márquez et al. ( 1 9 8 2 ) reported P. longi- cuspis for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula (Gra- nada p r o v i n c e ) . T h e y found males with o n e valve like P. perniciosas and another like P. longicuspis. Similar s p e c i m e n s have b e e n found within the populations o f Alicante, Murcia and Almería p r o v i n c e s (Martinez- Ortega etal., 1 9 8 7 ; Morillas-Márquez et al, 1 9 9 D . Ever since, the inclusion o f conflictive males in o n e o f these two s p e c i e s has relied o n the personal criteria o f the authors.
For a long time this t a x o n o m i c character has b e e n considered valid although it has not b e e n widely used.
Nevertheless in several doctoral theses or monographs, w h e r e it is possible to include an e x t e n s i v e descrip- tion o f t h e s t u d i e d s p e c i e s ( e . g . T h e o d o r , 1 9 4 8 ,
Departamento de Biología Animal (Zoología), Facultad de Biología.
Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
Correspondence : Francisco Collantes. Tel. : 34 68 307100 ext. 2370 - Fax : 34 68 363963- E-mail : zoologia@fcu.um.es
Résumé : SUR LA VALIDITÉ DU RAPPORT AIII/EP POUR DISTINGUER
PHLEBOTOMUS PERNICIOSUS ET PHLEBOTOMUS LONGICUSPIS (DIPTERA, PSYCHODIDAE)
Dans le sud-est de la Péninsule Ibérique, le rapport des longueurs du troisième article de l'antenne et de l'épipharynx (AIII/EP) n'est pas utile pour l'identification spécifique de P. perniciosus et P. longicuspis. Les distributions de fréquences coïncident et les moyennes de ce caractère, pour ces deux espèces, sont statistiquement égales.
MOTS CLÉS : larroussius, Phlebotomus perniciosus, Phlebotomus longicuspis, phlébotomes, biométrie.
Morillas-Márquez, 1 9 8 2 , Martínez-Ortega, 1 9 8 6 , Mar- chais, 1 9 9 2 , C o n e s a - G a l l e g o , 1 9 9 4 ) , explicit reference to this character is made.
T h e purpose o f the present work is to study the effec- tiveness o f this ratio to differentiate the populations o f P. perniciosas and P. longicuspis in the Southeast o f the Iberian Peninsula.
In order to c h e c k the validity o f this t a x o n o m i c c h a - racter w e study w h e t h e r or not the m e a n s for the two s p e c i e s are different in an attempt to ascertain the variation o f this feature within a population. W e also study the d e g r e e o f overlapping in the range o f values o f both species.
A total o f 4 6 2 male s p e c i m e n s b e l o n g i n g to P. perni- ciosus (n = 331) and P. longicuspis (n = 3 6 ) w e r e stu- died. Also 197 males o f P. ariasi Tonnoir, 1921 w e r e used as a reference s p e c i e s in the multivariate analysis b e c a u s e it is a different and well defined s p e c i e s , and it t o o b e l o n g s to s u b g e n u s Larroussius. W e also used 26 males o f P. longicuspis collected in M o r o c c o (Midelt, El K b a b , O u a - O u m a n a , Nimrou and B o u l e m a n e ) . F e m a l e s w e r e not used b e c a u s e w e had n o female w h i c h could b e assigned to P. longicuspis.
T h e range o f ratios ( T a b l e I) for P. longicuspis is within the range o f ratios o f P. perniciosus whereas the m e a n o f P. ariasi is Higher than that o f the other two.
W h e n w e c o m p a r e the m e a n s using a O n e - W a y Ana- lysis o f Variance, the result is equality o f m e a n s for P. perniciosus and P. longicuspis (p > 0 . 0 5 ) , and signi- ficant differences with P. ariasi (p = 0 ) . T h e m e a n o f P. longicuspis o f M o r o c c o is significantly equal to the
Parasite, 1996, 4, 395-396
Note de recherche 395
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X ± c o n f i d e n c e
i n t . 9 5 % M i n M a x
P. perniciosus 1 . 2 5 0 6 ± 0 . 0 0 9 4 0 . 9 6 0 8 1 . 5 8 0 1 P. longicuspis 1.2811 ± 0 . 0 3 4 0 1 . 0 6 3 8 ' 1 . 4 0 4 8 P. longicuspis ( M o r o c c o ) 1 . 2 2 7 3 ± 0 . 0 2 0 1 1 . 1 2 2 0 1.3077 P. ariasi 1.3645 ± 0 . 0 1 4 3 1 . 0 0 0 0 1.6111
Table I. — Ratio AIII/EP for P. longicuspis, P. longicuspis (Morocco), P. pemiciosus and P. ariasi.
Arimethic mean ± confidence intervals to 95 % and maximum and minimum values.
m e a n o f P. pemiciosus. Therefore it b e c a m e clear that the value o f this ratio should not b e e m p l o y e d as taxo- n o m i c character since there are n o significant diffe- r e n c e s b e t w e e n both s p e c i e s . T h e populations o f both s p e c i e s fully overlap. In fact, P. longicuspis (from both Spanish and M o r o c c a n populations) has a frequency distribution included within the distribution o f P. per-
niciosus, w h e r e a s P. ariasi has a small overlap with P. pemiciosus. In most c a s e s (working with a confi- d e n c e level o f 9 5 % ) it is impossible to assign a spe- c i m e n to a particular s p e c i e s by using AIII/EP ratio, since both s p e c i e s have the s a m e mean.
O n the basis o f these results, it is obvious that in the sandfly populations o f southeastern Spain, it is impos- sible to differentiate the s p e c i m e n s o f P. pemiciosus and P. longicuspis by using the AIII/EP ratio, since both populations have the s a m e mean and the distributions o f frequencies o f both species c o i n c i d e . New charac- ters are n e e d e d to differentiate b e t w e e n s p e c i e s .
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Reçu le 27 mars 1 9 9 6 Accepté le 8 août 1 9 9 6
Note de recherche Parasite. 1996, 4, 395-396
C O L L A N T E S F . & M A R T I N E Z - O R T E G A E .
