New cytotype in the Simulium metallicum complex (Diptera: Simuliidae) from Cundinamarca, Colombia

Polytene chromosomes (n = 108) and morphology (n = 22) of Simulium metallicum Bellardi were described from larvae collected in different localities in Cundinamarca, Colombia, and compared with the standard polytene chromosome banding patterns of S. metallicum A. Polytene chromosomes of S. metallicum from Cundinamarca were characterized by a fixed inversion on the IIL chromosome arm (IIL-22), by 2 sex-linked inversions (IIL-24 and IIL-25), 6 floating inversions, and a heteroband in the IIIS chromosome arm. This taxon was considered to be a cytotype distinct from the 11 members of the S. metallicum complex from Central and South America, and we propose here the name S. metallicum L, following the convention for naming cytotypes in this species complex. There were slight larval morphological differences between S. metallicum from Cundinamarca and S. metallicum A and S. horacioi Okazawa & Onishi (or S. metallicum H).