Species composition and biotopic distribution of mosquito larvae of the genus Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Upper Volga lowland

The aim of the work was to study the species composition, relative abundance and biotopic distribution of malaria mosquito larvae in the habitats of the Upper Volga lowland and adjacent elevations. The species were determined by morphological features and the structure of polytene chromosomes. It was found that five species of mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles live in the studied territory. They are An. beklemishevi, An. claviger, An. daciae, An. messeae s. s., An. maculipennis s. s. An. claviger mosquitoes were found only in a spring-type water body. The species An. beklemishevi and An. maculipennis are rare in habitats of the Upper Volga lowland. An. beklemishevi larvae prefer shaded water bodies, and their proportion among other malaria mosquito larvae was 0.7-2.6%. An. maculipennis mosquitoes were found with increased frequency on ridges surrounding the Upper Volga lowland. An. messeae s. l. mosquitoes prevailed in all habitats and were represented by two cryptic species: An. daciae and An. messeae. The proportion of An. messeae larvae everywhere exceeded that of An. daciae. It was established that the Upper Volga lowland was a zone of interspecific hybridisation of An. daciae and An. messeae. Interspecific hybrids were found in most of the studied malaria mosquito breeding sites with a frequency of 0.4-7.8%.