Rosen, L.

Stone, A.

Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society

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Vol. XIV, No. 3, March, 1952 425A new Species of Aedes from Tahiti (Diptera: Culicidae)By ALAN STONE1 and LEON ROSEN2In the course of collecting mosquitoes in connection with filariasisstudies on the island of Tahiti, French Oceania, S. A. Edgar and the juniorauthor discovered the adults and larvae of an apparently undescribed,indigenous species of Aedes, which is herein described.Aedes (Ochlerofatus) edgari, new speciesAedes sp. Marks, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus. 20:125, 1951.Adult. Female. Wing 3.2 to 3.8 mm. in length. Head. Proboscis 1.4 length or frontfemur, black, the median third yellow-brown beneath, this color expanding upwarddistally and usually forming a complete ring around the proboscis at the anterior endof the pale area; labellae slightly paled. Palpus about one-seventh length of proboscis,black, with a few yellowish scales at apex. Clypeus dark brown, bare. Torus brown,without scales. Vertex brown centrally with recumbent hairlike golden and dark brownscales, and erect brown setae and scales; the golden scales mostly near the midline andalong eye margin; opposite upper portion of anterior pronotum a patch of flat, paleyellow scales, below this a smaller patch of dark flat scales, and below this more flatyellow scales.Thorax. Scutal integument dark reddish-brown; acrostichal and dorsocentral bristlespresent; scales hairlike, dark brown and golden yellow, the latter found mostly on themidline, dividing posteriorly, and usually as indistinct outlines to anterior and posterioroval sublateral areas of scutum. Scutellum on all lobes with only narrow golden scales.Anterior pronotum with dark setae and occasionally a few flattened pale scales; posteriorpronotum shiny, dark, with scattered, closely appressed dark scales. Pleuron darkbrown, shiny, the sutures paler; patches of semi-erect, broad, yellow scales on prealararea below knob, mid and ventral sternopleuron posteriorly, and mid mesepimeron;upper mesepimeron with a patch of rather slender setae; no lower mesepimeral setae;about 5 to 8 postspiracular setae. Legs. Fore coxa with a small patch of flat yellowscales anteriorly at base, dark scales below, and dark setae anteriorly; mid coxa withdark scales and a narrow patch of yellow scales medially, and dark setae laterally; hindcoxa yellowish with yellowish setae posteriorly and no scales. Femora dark except fora narrow pale band at base of each and a stripe of pale scales tapering distally on posterior surface of each, that on the fore femur being dorsal in position, those on femoraII and III ventral. Tibiae all dark. Fore and mid tarsi each with narrow white bandsat bases of segments 1 and 2, and a trace on 3; hind tarsus with white basal bands on allsegments, that on 1 about one-sixth of segment, on 2 about one-third segment, on 3about two-fifths segment, on 4 nearly half segment, and on 5 all but a few dark scalesat extreme apex. Claws equal, of fore and mid tarsi toothed, of hind tarsi simple. Wingscales slender, entirely dark. Halter yellow, the knob with dark scales.Abdomen. Tergites black-scaled with patches of white scales at sides of segments 1to 7; a few yellowish scales at bases of tergites 2 to 5, not forming distinct bands; hairsalong hind margins of tergites yellowish. Sternites yellowish-brown with dark scales.Male. Wing 3.2 mm. long. Largely similar to the female; however, differing as follows:White ring of proboscis complete, but much narrower ventrally. Palpus nearly as long asproboscis, the third and fourth segments with white bands basally; palpus turned downdistally; long hairs at apex of third segment and on fourth segment ventrally; fifthsegment with shorter hairs. Fore tarsus with claws unequal, the larger one toothed; midtarsus with claws unequal, the smaller one toothed; hind tarsus with claws small, equal,1 Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, U. S. Department of Agriculture.2 Laboratory of Tropical Diseases, Microbiological Institute, National Institute of He;:alth.426 Proceedings, Hawaiian Entomological Societysimple. Tergites 1 to 6 with distinct straight, white, basal bands, the lateral spots lessdeveloped; sternite 6 with a broad, pale band basally. Genitalia (Fig. 3). Eighth ter-gite with four heavy setae near posterior margin; basistyle about three times as long asbasal width, with scattered long hairs dorsally and lateroventrally, and scales dorsallyand laterally; shorter hairs ventrally; inner ventral (tergal) surface of basistyle witha large rounded lobe bearing scattered fine setae; from this lobe arises a bare arm, curvingdorsally and then ventrally, at the end of which is an expanded knob bearing manystout, curved setae; apical lobe of basistyle weakly developed, with a single, inwardlydirected, curved seta. Dististyle slender, curved, with a few hairs on apical fourth; apicalappendage slender. Mesosome broad, membranous, truncate. Claspette stem slender,slightly curved, finely setose; blade slender, curved, about as long as stem; interbasallobe with many fine hairs. Lobes of ninth tergite conical, with two or three bladelikesetae, and several smaller ones. Tenth sternites rounded distally, each with a singlesubapical tooth and a few fine hairs near middle laterally.Aedes (Ochlerotatus) edgari, n. sp. Fig. 1. Head of larva. Fig. 2. End of abdomen oflarva. Fig. 3. Male genitalia. Drawn by Thomas M. Evans.LARVA. Head (Fig. 2) . Antenna with fine spinules; hair tuft, of 2 or 3 hairs, arisingjust before middle, not quite reaching apex of segment; largest terminal spine aboutthree-fourths length of hair tuft. Preclypeal spine long, stout, curved. Preantennal hair(A) multiple; lower head hair (B) single or rarely double, long; upper head hair (C)3 or 4 branched, slightly shorter. Mental plate triangular, about 17 teeth on each side,becoming progressively smaller toward apex.Thorax. Integument smooth. Prothoracic hair O, a short, stout tuft; hairs 1-3 arisingclose together, but not on a plate, the posterior one simple, the other two double; hairVol. XIV# No. 3, March, 1952 4274 slender, triple; hairs 5-6 long, simple; hair 7 long, stout, triple; hair 8 slender, double;9, 10, and 12 simple; 11 a very small tuft. Mesothoracic hairs 1-4 short multiple tufts.Abdomen (Fig. 2). Pentad hairs 1 and 2 slender, double; 3 and 5 stout, of 9-10 hairs;4 single. Comb a dense patch of elongate, pale spines, tapering basally and apically,the distal portion fringed. Siphon about twice as long as basal width; hair tuft arisingabout opposite penultimate pecten tooth, with about 12-14 finely feathered branches, thelongest branch not quite reaching apex of siphon. Pecten of 13-16 teeth, the distal oneslargest, each usually with 1-3 lateral teeth. Anal plate not ringing the segment. Ventralbrush of about 16 tufts, the basal two not on barred area; dorsal hairs consisting of amultiple tuft and two longer, simple hairs; lateral hair single or double. Anal papillae4, subequal, about 3.3 length of anal segment, slender, tapering.Holotype, male, ex ground pool, Punaauia, Tahiti, Dec. 4, 1950(Leon Rosen), with genitalia on slide. Paratypes, same data, 34 malesand 30 females; Paea, Tahiti, Feb. 11, 1949 (W. A. Robinson), female;same locality, Mar. 21 to June 1, 1949 (S. A. Edgar), 20 females; Mataiea,Tahiti, July 11, 1950 (Bambridge 2c Teotea), 3 females, 1 male, associated with 3 larval and 4 pupal skins. Holotype and paratypes (U. S.N. M. No. 61305); paratypes, British Museum, Paris Museum, CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences, and South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia.The larva was described from 3 mounted on slides, taken in a groundpool, Aiurua Valley, Tahiti, Nov. 11, 1950 (B. S. Bambridge), and 10,unmounted, taken from a ground pool, Mataiea, Tahiti (B. S. Bambridge) .We take pleasure in naming the species after S. A. Edgar, of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, who was one of the first to discover the species.This species falls into Edwards' Group A of the subgenus Ochlerotatus.The male can be readily separated from all other described Aedes speciesby the unusual development of the basal lobe of the basistyle. The femalemost closely resembles that of vigilax (Skuse), but the thoracic pattern,the almost entirely dark abdomen, the unspeckled femora, and the moreextensive white banding of the hind legs clearly distinguish it. The larvaalso resembles that of vigilax, but the siphon is longer in relation to itsbasal width, the pecten teeth are slightly stouter, the anal gills are muchlonger, the comb scales are more abundant and more tapering distally,and head hair C has more branches than in that species.Biology. Larvae and pupae of this species have been found in fivedifferent temporary, shallow ground pools on the island of Tahiti. Ineach instance the aquatic forms were present in abundance and wereof approximately the same stage of development. Specimens were foundin association with Culex quinquefasciatus Say and C. annulirostris Skusein one instance, and with C. quinquefasciatus alone in another. Only onegeneration of larvae of this species was found in four of these pools although water persisted in them and successive generations of the othermosquito species occurred. A second generation of the species occurredin one pool about one month after the first discovery, the pool havingdried and been reflooded during this period. The pools were shaded inthree instances and in the open sunlight in the other two. Larvae werefound once in a pool near the sea, but the bottom of the pool was at428 Proceedings, Hawaiian Entomological Societyleast 3 meters above sea level and there was little likelihood that thewater was brackish.Females have been observed feeding on man at night in nature.Relation to Disease. The junior author has shown this species tobe an efficient intermediate host of Tahitian strains of Wuchereriabancrofti in the laboratory. Its importance as a vector of filariasis innature is not yet known.

A new Species of Aedes from Tahiti (Diptera: Culicidae)

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A new Species of Aedes from Tahiti (Diptera: Culicidae)

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