Gupta Sh. 2019. Scanning electron microscopic observations on the eggs of Anopheles annularis (Diptera: Culicidae) // Invertebrate Zoology. Vol.16. No.4: 398–404 [in English].
Department of Zoology, Post Graduate Govt. College For Girls, Sector-11, Chandigarh, 160011 India. E-mail: shivani.goel95@gmail.com
doi: 10.15298/invertzool.16.4.07
ABSTRACT: Accurate identification of Anopheles using different techniques is essential for having effective malaria control strategies. Present study describes the eggs of species belonging to subgenus Cellia of genus Anopheles collected from North India using scanning electron micrographs. An. annularis are sympatric with major malaria vectors like An. culicifacies, An. stephensi and An. maculatus. The eggs of the Anopheles species described so far are boat-shaped with rounded anterior and posterior ends. However, they can be easily distinguished by the shape of the deck present on the ventral (upper) surface of the egg. In An. annularis the deck is continuous along the length of the egg. The restricted deck in some species is due to presence of chorionic cells on the upper surface of the eggs. The floats (structure present on the lateral side of the eggs) in some Anopheles species are located in the middle of the egg and are limited to the lateral sides. In An. annularis the floats extends up to anterior and posterior frills( slight wavy structures present on both the ends of an egg). The eggs are compared with related species of genus Anopheles, notably An. culicifacies, An. splendidus and An. stephensi. It was found that An. annularis can be easily distinguished from other sympatric species by egg morphology study.
KEY WORDS: scanning electron microscopy, Cellia, morphology.