Evaluation of Modern Techniques for Species Identification of Lutzia Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Thailand: Geometric Morphometrics and DNA Barcoding

SIMPLE SUMMARY: There are four species of Lutzia mosquitoes in Thailand, including Lt. chiangmaiensis, Lt. fuscana, Lt. halifaxii, and Lt. vorax. However, it is difficult to identify damaged specimens when some of their morphological character is missing. Thus, we evaluated the efficacy of the geometric morphometric (GM) approach and DNA barcoding for the identification of four Lutzia species. Our results showed that DNA barcoding is poorly effective in identifying Lt. fuscana and Lt. halifaxii based on their low interspecific genetic differences. On the other hand, the GM approach based on wing shape analyses successfully identified the four Lutzia species in Thailand. ABSTRACT: There are four species of Lutzia mosquitoes in Thailand, including Lutzia chiangmaiensis, Lt. fuscana, Lt. halifaxii, and Lt. vorax. The accurate species identification of adult Lutzia mosquitoes based on morphological features requires many body parts, including the abdominal terga and wing. However, species identification is difficult in the case of damaged specimens when some of their morphological character is missing due to transit or gathering in the field. Thus, we evaluated the efficacy of the landmark-based geometric morphometric (GM) approach for the discrimination of Lutzia species in Thailand. In addition, DNA barcoding was also used in parallel with the GM approach to identify the species. Larvae of Lutzia were collected, raised into adults, and identified based on their morphological characteristics. The validated reclassification test results clearly demonstrated that wing shape resulted in a high level of success in identification (correct identifications ranged from 92.50% to 100%); however, based on the DNA barcoding analyses, our results showed that it was poorly effective in identifying Lt. fuscana and Lt. halifaxii based on an overlap between the intraspecific and interspecific divergence. Moreover, our survey results provide updates on the distribution of Lt. chiangmaiensis and Lt. vorax in Thailand. This research will help medical entomologists more efficiently identify mosquitoes in the genus Lutzia, resulting in more effective mosquito control and surveillance.