Cytotaxonomy of the P rosimulium ( D iptera: S imuliidae) of Western A sia

Chromosomal analysis of more than 500 larval black flies from 19 sites in A rmenia and T urkey revealed five taxa in the P rosimulium hirtipes group: P rosimulium frontatum   T erteryan, P rosimulium rachiliense   D jafarov cytoform ‘ A ,’ P . rachiliense   D jafarov cytoform ‘ B ,’ P rosimulium tomosvaryi ( E nderlein), and a new species of P rosimulium . T o associate the names rufipes ( M eigen) and tomosvaryi with cytological entities, larvae from the respective type localities in G ermany were characterized chromosomally. P rosimulium frontatum is restricted to the C aucasus M ountains where studied populations have five unique inversions. It is most closely related to cytoforms ‘ A ’ and ‘ B ’ of P . rachiliense , the three taxa sharing one unique inversion. The two cytoforms of P . rachiliense are separated by about 1200 km, obscuring decisions about their reproductive isolation. T he names rachiliense and possibly pronevitschae   R ubtsov apply to cytoform ‘ A ’ in A rmenia, whereas the name fulvipes ( E dwards) might apply to cytoform ‘ B ’ in T urkey and to material formerly identified in T urkey as P . rufipes . P opulations of P . tomosvaryi in A rmenia are chromosomally distinct from previously studied populations in E urope and M orocco, although tied to E uropean and T urkish populations by a shared X ‐linked inversion. We conservatively view A rmenian, E uropean, and T urkish populations of P . tomosvaryi as a single, polymorphic species. A new species, chromosomally related to P . hirtipes ( F ries) and P . tomosvaryi by two uniquely shared inversions, was discovered in T urkey.  © 2014 The Linnean Society of London