How steadfast is the concept of “Foldscope linked geometric morphometrics” for the identification of Aedes and Armigeres mosquito vectors?

The innovation of ideas concerning the development of a strategy with cost-effective and easy use in mosquito control is recognized as an integral part of public health research. As the Aedes , Culex and Armigeres mosquitoes are considered as a vector for devastating parasites and pathogens, their identification is of primordial significance in the current scenario. The standard conventional methods become challenging in certain circumstances. Here we introduced the applicability of “Foldscope linked Geometric morphometrics” in mosquito taxonomy. MorphoJ Apache License (Version 2.0) and TpsDig232 were used for geometric morphometric analysis. The NucleoSpin® Tissue Kit (Macherey-Nagel) was used to extract the mosquito genomic DNA. The evolutionary distance calculation of respective specimens was performed using the neighbour joining method with the aid of MEGA X. The results from “Foldscope linked Geometric morphometrics” verified using mitochondrial COI gene-based characterization and revealed the presence of Aedes aegypti , Aedes albopictus and Armigeres subalbatus . The superimposition wireframe representation exposed prominent variation between the aforesaid mosquitoes. The principal component analysis exposed three distinct points in morphospace and precisely distinguished the two Aedes and Armigeres genera. The results gathered from this investigation could be executed in mosquito control research in the future to prevent vector-borne diseases.