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Molecular Differentiation Of Two Sibling Species Of The Black Fly Simulium Vittatum (Diptera: Simuliidae) Based On Random Amplified Polymorphic Dna, G. A. Duncan, P. H. Adler, K. P. Pruess, Thomas O. Powers

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Larvae of the black fly morphospecies Simulium vittatum from Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, and New Hampshire were cytologically identified as either the IS-7 or the IIIL-1 cytospecies. DNA was PCR amplified from cytotyped larvae using eight 10-mer primers, labeled with ₃₃P, and run on polyacrylamide gels. The entire data set of 96 amplicons produced incomplete separation of the two cytospecies when subjected to neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony analyses. However, when analyzed within geographical regions, separate species status was supported. Boot- strap support for distinctness of the two cytospecies was best in Colorado where they were collected in true sympatry. The …