Geometric morphometric analysis of wing size and shape variation in Aedeomyia catasticta (Diptera: Culicidae) populations across different regions of Thailand.

Abstract

Objectives: Aedeomyia catasticta is a mosquito species with relatively limited biological information. Therefore, this study aims to examine the geographical variation of wing shape in A. catasticta populations from different regions of Thailand using a landmark-based geometric morphometric approach. Materials and Methods: Samples of A. catasticta were collected from each of four regions of Thailand, each with distinct geographical and ecological characteristics: Eastern, Northeastern, Southern, and Western. Wing size was estimated by comparing centroid size (CS) values between populations. Differences in wing shape were assessed using the Mahalanobis distance, and statistical significance was tested using 10,000 permutations. Results: Statistical analyses of wing size indicated significant differences in wing CS among various pairs of populations across different regions, particularly between eastern and western, eastern and southern, and northeastern and western populations (p < 0.05). Statistical comparisons of wing shapes also demonstrated that wing shape varied significantly across all four regions (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The wing CS and shape of A. catasticta populations from different regions of Thailand may have been influenced by regional environmental factors, as indicated by geometric morphometric analyses. These findings improve understanding of regional morphological variation in this understudied mosquito species.