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Increasing emphasis is being placed on the study of the genetics of insect vectors of disease, and, although Anopheles occidentalis is not itself a malaria vector, study of its salivary gland chromosomes is important as part of investigations into the phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships of anophelines, especially in view of this species' close morphological similarity to other members of the A. maculipennis complex.The authors of this paper provide a map of the salivary chromosomes of A. occidentalis, and discuss the many points of resemblance of those chromosomes to those of A. freeborni in particular. However, they point out that at least ten different paracentric inversions must be postulated to derive the A. occidentalis chromosomes from those of A. freeborni.