A DESCRIPTION AND MORPHOMETRIC COMPARISON OF EGGS FROM 8 GEOGRAPHIC POPULATIONS OF THE SOUTH-AMERICAN MALARIA VECTOR ANOPHELES (NYSSORHYNCHUS) NUNEZTOVARI (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE)

The egg of Anopheles nuneztovari is described from scanning electron m icrographs of specimens collected ft om western Venezuela. Morphometri c measurements of egg samples from 3 localities in Venezuela, one in S uriname, and 4 in Brazil are compared and relationships analyzed by mu ltivariate statistics. Morphological characters were similar in 2 geog raphical groups, one Venezuelan and the other Amazonian, that were dis tinguishable on the basis of differences in size and density of tuberc les in the anterior deck region and area of pores in the dorsal plastr on. Eggs from western Brazil did not cluster with other Amazonian coll ections. The distinction of Venezuelan from Amazonian eggs of An. nune ztovari is consistent with chromosomal, ecologic, and molecular eviden ce for regional genetic differentiation in this species.