The ancient origins of London’s underground mutant mosquitoes

The shape of mosquitoes associated with the London Underground Railway has evolved to live in human environments long before the birth of the Underground Railway, born at the age of 19.^thh century.

Culex Pipiens f. Molester It was found in cities around the world, but was widely known as an underground mosquito in London after World War II.

It is closely related to the chewing shape of the same species of bird, known as Culex Pipiens f. Pipiens, And biologists thought that within the past few centuries the form of molestation had evolved in urban environments.

To learn more about its origins, Lindy McBride Princeton University and her colleagues analyzed the DNA of 790 mosquitoes from 44 countries around the world, including the shapes of Molestus and Pipiens, several closely related species.

The results suggest that rather than occurring in London's tube tunnels, Molestus Mosquito evolved in the Middle East perhaps thousands of years ago. There are three main evidence for this.

First, the morphology of Molestus is genetically closer to the pipiens population in the Mediterranean basin than the pipiens population in Northern Europe. They are such things as these Mediterranean Pipiens mosquitoes, suggesting that one arises from the other.

Additionally, molestation mosquitoes in the Eastern Mediterranean region are more genetically diverse than molestation in underground habitats in northern Europe. “This suggests that they have been in the Eastern Mediterranean for quite some time,” says McBride.

Finally, Pipiens forms do not exist in the Middle East. This makes it much easier to imagine how the ancestors of Molestus Mosquitoes colonized the region and evolved to bite humans in isolation without mating with bird-biting pipingan insects , says McBride.

Based on the team's analysis of genetic variation, it is almost certain that Molestus mosquitoes are much older than previously thought, McBride says. “Our calculations show that it must have been at least 1,000 years ago, and 2000 to 10,000 years ago. [that they evolved]. This is perfectly aligned with the development of agriculture in the Middle East. ”

“Instead of evolving from scratch in urban underground spaces, Molestus was already prepared for urban life thanks to much older adaptations,” she says. “It could have evolved even further since it was once established in a city.”

The busy urban environment could lead to a new hybrid between the bite and human bite forms of birds, which are public health significance, says McBride. “Even if hybridization is rare, these mosquitoes may exhibit intermediate behavior and may exhibit improved ability to communicate through the West Nile. [virus] From birds to humans. ”