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Issue: Vol. 2872 No. 1: 9 May. 2011
Type: Articles
Published: 2011-05-09
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2872.1.4
Page range: 49–57
Abstract views: 35
PDF downloaded: 1

Cytotaxonomy of Simulium (Montisimulium) ghoomense (Diptera: Simuliidae) from the Darjeeling Hills, India

Department of Zoology, Darjeeling Government College, Darjeeling, West Bengal 734101, India
Department of Zoology, Darjeeling Government College, Darjeeling, West Bengal 734101, India
Department of Entomology, Soils & Plant Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0315, USA
School of Biotechnology, West Bengal University of Technology, BF-142, Sector 1, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700064, West Bengal, India
Department of Zoology, Darjeeling Government College, Darjeeling, West Bengal 734101, India
Diptera black flies chromosomal map cytotaxonomy Himalayas polytene chromosomes

Abstract

The polytene chromosomes are mapped for a scarce Himalayan simuliid, Simulium (Montisimulium) ghoomense Datta, from the Darjeeling area of India. This species has three tightly paired polytene chromosomes with a haploid number of 3. Chromosomes I, II, and III account for 39.6%, 30.3%, and 30.1% of the total complement length, respectively. The centromeres of chromosomes II and III consistently form a putative partial chromocenter. Sex chromosomes are undifferentiated and polymorphisms and sibling species are lacking in a sample of 35 larvae. This is the first chromosomal map for a species in the subgenus Montisimulium in India.

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