Culex (Culiciomyia) cambournaci Hamon & Gandara, 1955

Cornel, Anthony John, Mayi, Marie Paul Audrey, Kowo, Cyril, Foncha, David, Andongma, Esack, Anong, Damian Nota, Elad, Mirabel, Djomo, Charlene, Tchuinkam, Timoleon, Brisco, Katherine K. & Sehgal, Ravinder, 2020, New species of Culex (Culiciomyia) (Diptera: Culicidae) from Talangaye Forest in Cameroon and descriptions and identification keys for males of the Afrotropical species of the subgenus, Zootaxa 4858 (4), pp. 451-506 : 469

Culex (Culiciomyia) cambournaci Hamon & Gandara, 1955

Male. This is a small mosquito endemic to São Tomé and Príncipe Islands (West Africa) with a light brown to bronze coloured scutal integument and uniformly beige pleura. The abdominal terga are dark brown with no banding and the sterna are lighter brown with no banding. Hamon & Gandara (1955) provided a detailed description from a single male and putative larva. Wing 1.80 mm. Proboscis 1.55 mm. Forefemur 1.19 mm.

Head: Numerous narrow white decumbent scales in middle and posterior of vertex, irregular row of broad white decumbent scales along eye margin not quite meeting in middle ( Fig. 13A ) and few broad flat white scales on sides of head; erect forked scales quite numerous and uniformly light brown ( Fig. 13A ). Maxillary palpus about 0.17 length of proboscis, without comb scales ( Fig. 13B ). Antenna shorter than proboscis, apical flagellomeres covered with short setae except for whorl of 7 or 8 long setae at base of terminal flagellomere, all flagellomeres, except last 2, with apical 0.5 white and proximal 0.5 brown. Proboscis entirely dark-scaled.

Thorax: Scutal integument light brown, covered with narrow bronze scales ( Fig. 13D ). Paler scales confined to front of scutum and prescutellar space. Acrostichal setae quite numerous. Pleura integument uniformly pale brown to beige, devoid of scales except for a few on upper mesokatepisternum, some specimens with a few scales on lower mesanepimeron; setae on antepronotum, posterior margin of postpronotum, a few on proepisternum, prealar knob, on upper and posterior margins of mesokatepisternum, and a single lower mesepimeral seta.

Wing: Scales all dark.

Legs: Fore- and midfemora pale underneath, dark anteriorly, posteriorly and dorsally. Most of anterior, ventral and posterior surfaces of hindfemur pale except apical 0.1 dark, dorsal surface all dark ( Fig. 13E ), rest of leg segments all dark.

Abdomen: Terga dark brown with no pale markings and sterna lighter brown to beige.

Genitalia: Tergum IX lobes each with a single row of 8 or 9 setae. Gonocoxite copiously covered with long setae (as long as gonocoxite) forming an obvious ventrolateral patch; large patch of setae close to base of subapical lobe and many narrow setae on subapical lobe surrounding the specialized setae ( Fig. 13C ), which consist of 3 rodlike setae, with middle one thinner, lighter in colour and slightly separated from others, thickest rod-like seta flattened to form a small hammer-like head, the third slightly hooked apically; 2 asymmetrical rounded foliform setae accompanied by 2 stiff setae, one strongly striated and thickened in middle. Gonostylus with striated hump where it bends ( Fig. 13C ), instead of narrowing distally it broadens into an angular upwards spine and has a typical folded foliate gonostylar claw; middle region of gonostylus copiously covered with short setae. Aedeagus with expanded base with long curved basal teeth at least 0.5 length of lateral plate ( Fig. 13F ). Paraproct with 3 or 4 subapical setae and no obvious sternal process.

Specimens examined: Several males collected resting in low-lying vegetation in a forest (0.12944º N, 6.57944º E) in the southern region of Monte Camo , São Tomé .

Additional notes: This is a rather unusual male of the subgenus Culiciomyia , sharing characters, such as the short maxillary palpus and strongly curved gonostylus, with some species, e.g. Cx. simpliciforceps Edwards , of the subgenus Eumelanomyia Theobald. The larva quite closely resembles the larva of Cx. nebulosus . Other than the more strongly bent gonostylus that ends with an expansion, the male genitalia more closely resemble those of Culiciomyia species. Hamon & Gandara (1955) classified Cx. cambournaci as a species of Culiciomyia because the male genitalia mostly resemble those of Cx. furlongi . Based on the drawing of the gonocoxite of Cx. furlongi in van Someren (1954) , the resemblance mentioned by Hamon & Gandara is likely due to the similarly shaped setae of the subapical lobe that lack barbs. Hamon & Gandara did not describe the aedeagus of Cx. cambournaci because it was too damaged in their specimen. The aedeagus described from the specimens collected in São Tomé by one of us (AJC) in 2016 resembles that of other species of Culiciomyia , with an obvious basal tooth that is much longer than the basal teeth of other Afrotropical species of the subgenus.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Male of Culex cambournaci. (A) Dorsal view of the head; (B) lateral view of the maxillary palpus, proboscis and antenna; (C) genitalia (100x); (D) lateral view of the thorax; (E) anterior view of the hindfemur; (F) depiction of the lateral plates.