Distribution of Sibling Species A, B, C, and D of the Anopheles quadrirnaculatus Complex I

The distribution of Anopheles quadrimaculatus Say includes an area from the eastern half of the United States to southeastern Canada and northeastern Mexico. Recent research has determined that A. quadrimaculatus exists as a species complex, A, B, C, and D. A survey of the composition of natural populations of the A. quadrirnaculatus complex indicated that species A is the predominant species and is widely distributed throughout the range of the complex. Species B was found throughout the southeastern U.S., except in southern Florida. Species D was found across the southeastern states, but always at a low density. Species C was found only in Florida and southern Georgia. Anopheles quadrirnaculatus Say (Diptera: Cuhcidae) was first described in 1824 from specimens collected in Wabasha, Minnesota (Knight and Stone 1977). This species description was generally accepted, and A. quadrimaculatus was considered a single species over the ensuing years. Anopheles annulimanus Van der Wulp, with a type locality of Wisconsin, is listed as a synonym in Knight and Stone (1977). The distribution ofA quadrirnaculatus was generally accepted as covering the eastern half of the United States, southeastern Canada, and northeastern Mexico. There were no indications in past literature of the existence of a species complex, but the results of recent studies, in which modern genetic techniques were used, indicated a complex of four sibling species that have been temporarily assigned the designations, A, B, C, and D