AFROTROPICAL, AUSTRALASIAN, NEARCTIC, ORIENTAL & PALEARCTIC REGIONS
Generic abbreviation: Cq.
Type species: Culex perturbans Walker
Etymology: Daniel William Coquillett
Coquillettidia species are large, yellowish-orange mosquitoes. The genus contains 58 species divided into 3 subgenera: Austromansonia (1 species; Cq. tenuipalpis (Edwards) endemic to New Zealand), Coquillettidia (34 species; Afrotropical, Australasian, Nearctic, Oriental, and Palearctic) and the Neotropical Rhynchotaenia (13 species). Coquillettidia and Mansonia species make up the tribe Mansoniini.
DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS (Click photos to view; mouse over and click large photo to zoom in.)
ADULT (illustrated): Head: Clypeus bare, longer than wide. Legs: Fe-I–III dark; unguis U-I–III simple; pulvillus absent. Wing: Wing scales somewhat broad and usually symmetrical, mixed dark and pale. Abdomen: Apex blunt in females; VIII-Te unmodified, with only basal half sclerotized. Female genitalia: Cerci spatulate, articulated with IX-Te; IX-Te bi-lobed, with few long setae; three equal-sized spermathecae.
LARVA (not illustrated): Head: Antenna length at least 1.5 x half times width of head; without a prominent projection under base of antenna. Terminal segments: Siphon modified for piercing plant tissues; seta 1-X multi-branched, or absent.
TAXONOMIC KEYS
Lane 1953 (Neotropics)
Cova-García et al. 1966 (Venezuela)
Delfinado 1966a (Philippines)
Tanaka et al. 1979 (Japan)
Lee et al. 1988 (Australasia)
Service 1990 (Afrotropics)
Rattanarithikul & Harrison et al. 2005 (Thailand)
Rattanarithikul et al. 2006a (Thailand)
WRBU – Genera – Global – Larva
WRBU – Genera – Afrotropical – Adult
WRBU – Genera – Afrotropical – Larva
WRBU – Coquillettidia – Afrotropical – Adult
WRBU – Coquillettidia – Afrotropical – Larva
WRBU – Genera – Eastern Palearctic – Adult
WRBU – Genera – Eastern Palearctic – Larva
WRBU – Genera – Western Palearctic – Adult
WRBU – Genera – Western Palearctic – Larva
WRBU – Genera – Nearctic – Adult
WRBU – Genera – Nearctic – Larva
WRBU – Genera – Australasian – Adult
WRBU – Genera – Australasian – Larva
WRBU – Coquillettidia – Australasian – Adult
WRBU – Coquillettidia – Australasian – Larva
WRBU – Genera – IndoMalayan – Adult
WRBU – Genera – IndoMalayan – Larva
WRBU – Coquillettidia – IndoMalayan – Adult
WRBU – Coquillettidia – IndoMalayan – Larva
WRBU – Genera – Oriental – Adult
WRBU – Genera – Oriental – Larva
WRBU – Coquillettidia – Oriental – Adult
WRBU – Coquillettidia – Oriental – Larva
WRBU – Genera – Neotropical – Adult
WRBU – Genera – Neotropical – Larva
WRBU – Coquillettidia – Neotropical – Adult
Exemplar DNA sequences
Cq. aurites COI: GQ165776
Cq. metallica COI: KU187112-13
Cq. nigricans COI: KY859871-72
Cq. perturbans COI: MG086163
Cq. richiardii COI: JX040513
All Coquillettidia DNA sequences
BIONOMICS
Immatures
To evade predation, Coquillettidia larvae (like those of Mansonia) attach themselves to the roots and stems of aquatic reeds and grasses, piercing the plant tissue using their highly modified siphons to obtain oxygen for respiration. Larvae remain almost motionless as they develop, but can readily detach and disperse if threatened.
Adults
Most Coquillettidia species feed primarily on birds, particularly water fowl. However, in Europe, Africa and the Nearctic, several species are ferocious biters of man and domestic livestock, and significantly contribute to the transmission of zoonotic arboviruses— especially Cq. (Coq.) fuscopennata (Theobald), Cq. (Coq.) metallica (Theobald), Cq. (Coq.) perturbans (Walker), Cq. (Rhy.) arribalzagae (Theobald) and Cq. (Rhy.) venezuelensis (Theobald). Other species are involved in the transmission of filariasis (e.g., Cq. (Coq.) crassipes (van der Wulp)) and several avian malarias (e.g. Cq. (Coq.) aurites (Theobald), Cq. (Coq.) metallica, Cq. (Coq.) pseudoconopas (Theobald)). Both day- and night-biting Coquillettidia are reported.
*Associated pathogens: This list reports bacteria, viruses, and parasites recovered from, or experimentally passed through this species, and does not imply field vector status.
IMPORTANT REFERENCES (full citations below)
Lane 1953 (subg. Rhynchotaenia of genus Mansonia; keys, tax. distr.)
Belkin 1962 (as Mansonia subgenus, taxonomy; South Pacific)
Wharton 1962: 1 (Malaya)
Ronderos & Bachman 1963 (1962)a: 48 (to genus) [but see Mattingly 1971a]
Cova-García et al. 1966 (keys; Venezuela);
Delfinado 1966a (subg. Coquillettidia, keys; Philippines);
Belkin 1968a (subgenus Austromansonia & Coquillettidia, taxonomy, bionomics, distribution; New Zealand)
Belkin et al. 1970: 100 (taxonomy)
Tanaka et al. 1979 (as Mansonia subgenus; keys, bionomics, distribution; Japan)
Lee et al. 1988 (key, bionomics, distribution; Australasia)
Service 1990 (keys, bionomics, distrbution; Afrotropics)
Rattanarithikul & Harrison et al. 2005 (F, L; keys, biononomics; Thailand)
Rattanarithikul et al. 2006a (taxonomy, bionomics, keys; Thailand)
VALID SUBGENERA
Austromansonia Belkin [Aus.]
Coquillettidia Dyar [Coq.]
Rhynchotaenia Brethés [Rhy.]
CURRENT GENERIC SYNONYMS
None
CITED REFERENCES
Belkin, J.N. (1962). The mosquitoes of the South Pacific (Diptera, Culicidae) (Vols. 1 &2). Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
Belkin, J.N. (1968a). Mosquito studies (Diptera, Culicidae) VII. The Culicidae of New Zealand. Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, 3(1), 1–182.
Belkin, J.N., Heinemann, S.J., & Page, W.A. (1970). The Culicidae of Jamaica (Mosquito studies. XXI) Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, 6(1), 458.
Cova García, P., Oramas, E.S., & Rausseo, J.A. (1966). Mosquitos (Culicinos) de Venezuela. I & II. Ministerio de Sanidad y Asistencia Social, Caracas.
Delfinado, M.D. (1966a). The culicine mosquitoes of the Philippines, tribe Culicini (Diptera, Culicidae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 7, 1–252.
Dyar, H.G. (1905a). Remarks on genitalic genera in the Culicidae. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 7, 42–49.
Harbach, R.E., Rattanarithikul, R., & Harrison, B.A. (2005). Baimaia, a new subgenus for Anopheles kyondawensis Abraham, a unique crabhole-breeding Anopheline in Southeastern Asia. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 107(4), 750–761.
Lane, J. (1953). Neotropical Culicidae (Vols. I, II). São Paulo: University of São Paulo.
Lee, D.J., Hicks, M.M., Griffiths, M., Debenham, M.L., Bryan, J.H., Russell, R.C., . . . Marks, E.N. (1988a). The Culicidae of the Australasian region. Volume 6. Commonwealth Department of Health, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Monograph Series, 2.
Mattingly, P.F. (1971a). Contributions to the mosquito fauna of Southeast Asia. XII. Illustrated keys to the genera of mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae). Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, 7(4), 1–84.
Rattanarithikul, R., Harbach, R.E., Harrison, B.A., Panthusiri, P., Jones, J.W., & Coleman, R.E. (2005). Illustrated keys to the mosquitoes of Thailand. II. Genera Culex and Lutzia. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 36 (Supplement 2), 1–97.
Rattanarithikul, R., Harrison, B.A., Panthusiri, P., & Coleman, R.E. (2005). Illustrated keys to the mosquitoes of Thailand. I. Background; geographic distribution; lists of genera, subgenera, and species; and a key to the genera. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 36(1), 1–80.
Rattanarithikul, R., Harrison, B.A., Panthusiri, P., Peyton, E.L., & Coleman, R.E. (2006a). Illustrated keys to the mosquitoes of Thailand. III. Genera Aedeomyia, Ficalbia, Mimomyia, Hodgesia, Coquillettidia, Mansonia, and Uranotaenia. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 85(Supplement 1), 1.
Ronderos, R.A., & Bachmann, A.O. (1963a). A proposito del complejo Mansonia (Diptera-Culicidae). Revista de la Sociedad Entomologica Argentina, (1962) 25, 43–51.
Service, M.W. (1990). Handbook to the Afrotropical toxorhynchitine and culicine mosquitoes, excepting Aedes and Culex. British Museum (Natural History).
Tanaka, K., Mizusawa, K., & Saugstad, E.S. (1979). A revision of the adult and larval mosquitoes of Japan (including the Ryukyu Archipelago and Ogasawara Islands) and Korea (Diptera: Culicidae). Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, 16, 1–987.
Wharton, R. H. (1962). The biology of Mansonia mosquitoes in relation to the transmission of filariasis in Malaya. Bulletin of the Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya, 11, 1–114.
CITE THIS PAGE
Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (Year). Coquillettidia genus page. Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit Website, http://wrbu.si.edu/vectorspecies/genera/coquillettidia, accessed on [date (e.g. 03 February 2020) when you last viewed the site].
