Summary
Cytological descriptions are presented for five sibling species in the Simulium arcticum complex. These are designated: IIL-st. (standard), IIL-1, IIL-2, IIL-3, and Il-3.4 for the sequences involved in sex determination. Descriptions are given in terms of standard maps of polytene chromosomes based on IIL-st. arcticum. Closest members are sympatric; they differ in sex chromosomes but share band polymorphisms and/or floating inversions. The centromere band, CII may be thin (CIIt) or enhanced (CIIe) and the inversion IIL-2 is an autosomal polymorphism in some members but sex-linked, fixed or lost in other members of the complex. A novel B-chromosome system occurs in IIL-st. and IIL-2 siblings. B's are eliminated from the soma of both sexes, i.e. they are confined to the germline. Females are further unique in that all B-containing individuals exhibit mosaicism in the oogonia. The B-chromosomes are large arcocentrics and their frequency distribution is non-Poisson.
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Shields, G.F., Procunier, W.S. A cytological description of sibling species of Simulium (Gnus) arcticum (Diptera: Simuliidae). Polar Biol 1, 181–192 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287005
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287005