Cryptic Species in the Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albitarsis (Diptera: Culicidae) Complex: Incongruence Between Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-Polymerase Chain Reaction Identification and Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA COI Gene Sequences

Abstract Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) diagnostic bands are one tool used to differentiate cryptic mosquito species in the Anopheles albitarsis Complex. Monophyly of four species (A. albitarsis Lynch-Arribalzaga, A. albitarsis B, A. deaneorum Rosa-Freitas, and A. marajoara Galvao & Damasceno) currently identified with the RAPD technique was assessed using sequences of the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analyses support monophyly for A. albitarsis s.s., A. albitarsis B, and A. deaneorum. Anopheles marajoara, as identified by RAPD banding patterns, was either polyphyletic or paraphyletic in all phylogenetic analyses. The phylogenetic pattern and within-species genetic distances observed in A. marajoara suggest the existence of a previously unidentified species (species E) in northern Brazil and Venezuela. Diagnostic RAPD bands were unable to distinguish between A. marajoara and species E, probably because of the low nu...