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Name-bearing Type

• Theobald
• 1901b:235
• Type Species: Aedes squamipenna (Lynch Arribalzaga)

Classification

• Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Aedeomyiini. Aedeomyia is the only genus of tribe Aedeomyiini. It includes six species in two subgenera: Aedeomyia and Lepiothauma, each with three species.

Distribution

• Three species of the genus are Afrotropical, one is Australasian, one is Neotropical and one occurs in the Oriental and Australasian Regions.
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Phylogeny

• The phylogenetic origins of Aedeomyia are uncertain (Reidenbach et al., 2009) and evolutionary relationships within the genus have not been investigated.

Characteristics

• The adults of Aedeomyia are small, scaly mosquitoes of very similar appearance. They are generally easily recognised by a combination of characters. All antennal flagellomeres of females and the apical two flagellomeres of males are unusually short and thick, the clypeus bears a patch of scales, prespiracular and postspiracular setae are absent, lower mesepimeral setae are present, the wings are densely covered with broad yellow, white and brown scales, and the mid- and hindfemora have large apical scale-tufts. Larvae are distinctive. The antennae are greatly swollen, strongly curved and longer than the head. They possess strongly developed setae which give them a 'hairy' appearance, the lateral thoracic setae are remarkably long, the siphon is uniformly pubescent and lacks a pecten, and the spiracular apparatus bears a pair of large hook-like setae (seta 9-S). The comb of segment VIII consists of a single row of scales on a small sclerotised plate. See Aedeomyiini.

Bionomics

• Aedeomyia larvae are found primarily in dense swamps and ground pools with abundant aquatic vegetation, but they have also been collected from river margins. They are known to stay submerged for long periods of time, and are suspected of being capable of cuticular respiration through their greatly enlarged antennae. Females of Aedeomyia apparently feed predominantly on birds. Aedeomyia africana have been collected from human bait stationed on platforms in forest canopy, but members of the genus normally are not attracted to humans.

Medical

• A few arboviruses and avian malarial protozoa have been isolated from species of Aedeomyia, but none of the species are considered to be of importance to humans.

Important References

Lane, 1953 (Neotropical Region) Belkin, 1962 (taxonomy, South Pacific) Tyson, 1970a (revision) Lee et al., 1982 (Australasian Region) Service, 1990 (Afrotropical Region)

Included Taxa

Subgenus AEDEOMYIA Theobald, 1901 catasticta Knab, 1909 squamipennis (Lynch Arribálzaga, 1878) venustipes (Skuse, 1889)

Subgenus LEPIOTHAUMA Enderlein, 1923 africana Neveu-Lemaire, 1906 furfurea (Enderlein, 1923) pauliani Grjebine, 1953

The materials presented in the Classification, Distribution, Phylogeny, Characteristics, Medical, and Important References sections, and links to subgenera, are reproduced with permission of Mosquito Taxonomic Inventory, moderated by Ralph Harbach on behalf of the contributors who retain copyright. For additional information on reuse parameters, please contact Mosquito Taxonomic Inventory. Images and maps, unless otherwise attributed, and links to the literature are provided by the WRBU.