Authors : Tanawat Chaiphongpachara and Sedthapong Laojun
Abstract: Geometric Morphometrics (GM) is a new effective technique for mosquito identification and has become popular in applications to entomological work. In this study, we evaluated the Landmark and Semi-Landmark-based approach (LMSL) of GM to distinguish three species of Aedes mosquitoes in Thailand, including Aedes aegypti, Ae. albopictus and Ae. scutellaris as medically important vectors and compared the efficacy of LMSL and the Landmark-based approach (LM) to investigate both of their potentials. We were collected Aedes populations at the larval and pupal stages in human-made water containers in the communities of the Mueang Samut Songkhram District, Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand. The results of the comparison between LM and LMSL in this study revealed that they had similar efficacies for three Aedes species separations based on shape variation. However, for some Aedes species such as Ae. scutellaris, LMSL can better separate than LM while Ae. albopictus have better separation with LM than LMSL. Therefore, we recommend that before applying this technique, there should be a comparison with other GM methods to determine the specificity of species of mosquito vector in order to find an appropriate GM technique.
Tanawat Chaiphongpachara and Sedthapong Laojun, 2019. Using Landmark and Semi-Landmark-Based Geometric Morphometric to Identify Three Species of Aedes Mosquitoes in Thailand. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 18: 48-54.