Rediscovery of Anopheles (cellia) clowi (Diptera : culicidae), a rarely recorded member of the Anopheles punctulatus group

Anopheline specimens collected in Papua New Guinea were morphologically ide ntified as the rarely recorded Anopheles clowi Rozeboom & Knight. Amplifica tion of the rDNA ITS2 region of this material revealed a fragment of 750 bp confirming its placement in the Anopheles punctulatus group. This group co ntains 12 species and includes the major malaria Vectors in the islands of the southwest Pacific. Digestion of the ITS2 with the restriction enzyme Ms pI produced restriction fragment-length polymorphism with bands at 380, 300 , and 150bp, a pattern shared by no other members of this group. Phylogenet ic analysis involving the sequencing of a 2 kb region of the rDNA 18S gene indicated that An. clowi was monophyletic and basal to the rest of the grou p and showed considerable independent evolution from the other members. Thi s is the first record of An. clowi in Papua New Guinea and only the third c ollection of this species since its discovery in 1945.