Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1.6, cont'd
A species complex is a group of closely related species that are often
indistinguishable based on morphology alone. Reference to a complex may
be indicated by referring to the species as '
sensu lato
' or '
s.l.
' (e.g.
Anopheles
gambiae s.l.
) meaning 'in the broad sense', whereas '
sensu stricto
' or '
s.s.
' ('in
the strict sense') indicates the species alone (often a sibling within a species
complex has the same name as the complex). The presence of species com-
plexes adds a level of complexity to vector control efforts. Sibling species
that are morphologically indistinguishable and often sympatric within an
area can have such varied bionomics that one sibling is rendered a dominant
vector and the other a non-vector (
Meek, 1995
;
Manguin et al., 2008
). The
proper identification of species and knowledge of their ranges, often rapidly
altered by expanding agriculture and land use changes (
Amerasinghe et al.,
1991a
;
Amerasinghe and Indrajith, 1994
;
Lee, 1998
;
Singh and Mishra, 2000
;
