ANOPHELES-AQUASALIS EGGS FROM 2 VENEZUELAN LOCALITIES COMPARED BY SCANNING-ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY

Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) aquasalis, is the main coastal vector of mal aria from northeastern Venezuela to southeastern Brazil. Several autho rs have argued that An. aquasalis is a highly polymorphic species, whi le others indicated that it is a complex of closely related species. T his investigation compared the morphology of An. aquasalis eggs from S inamaica (Zulia State) and Yaguaraparo (Sucre State), the west and eas t of Venezuela, respectively We were able to separate eggs from the tw o localities using discriminant analyses based on ratios and percentag es of anterior and posterior tubercles measured by scanning electron m icroscopy. The results of this work suggest that An. aquasalis has hig h intraspecific variation.