Biological variation in Anopheles darlingi Root. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz

Behavioural variation in the South American malaria vector Anopheles darlingi is described. At the centre of its distribution, in forest areas close to the city of Manaus, Brazil, it is primarily exophagic and exophilic. Mosquitoes from this area are chromosomally diverse. Towards the northern edge of its distribution (in Guyana and Venezuela) it is more endophagic and less diverse chromosomally. Simi-larly in the south (in the state of Minas Gerais) it is less polymorphic. In this area, however, it is prima-rily zoophilic and exophagic. Evidence is presented that female wing size may vary between popula-tions. The possibility that this widely distributed species may be a complex could have important impli-cations for future malaria control schemes