Anopheles (Cellia) pretoriensis ( Theobald, 1903 )

Dawah, Hassan A., Abdullah, Mohammed A., Ahmad, Syed Kamran, Turner, James & Azari-Hamidian, Shahyad, 2023, An overview of the mosquitoes of Saudi Arabia (Diptera: Culicidae), with updated keys to the adult females, Zootaxa 5394 (1), pp. 1-76 : 16

Anopheles (Cellia) pretoriensis ( Theobald, 1903) ( Fig. 11 )

Type locality. Pretoria , South Africa.

Distribution. This species is widespread in the Afrotropical Region ( Wilkerson et al. 2021). In the Middle East, it occurs in Saudi Arabia and Yemen ( Knight 1953b; Kouznetsov 1976; White 1980; Zahar 1985; Glick 1992; van Harten & Wagener 1994; Abdoon & Alshahrani 2003; El Khereji et al. 2007; Al Ahmad et al. 2011; Alahmed 2012; Al-Eryani et al. 2016; Tantely et al. 2016; Lemine et al. 2017; Irish 2020; Wilkerson et al. 2021). It was recorded for the first time in Saudi Arabia by Zahar (1985).

Remarks. Gillies & de Meillon (1968) noted some variation in the palpal bands and wing ornamentation. Campos et al. (2023) studied the population genetics of An. pretoriensis in Grande Comore Island and continental Africa for the first time.

Medical importance. Anopheles pretoriensis is involved in the transmission of Nigerian and Wesselsbron viruses in Senegal ( Adam & Digoutte 2005) and Plasmodium species (oocysts or sporozoites) in French Equatotial Africa ( World Health Organization 1951; Tantely et al. 2016).

Figures

FIGURE 11. Anopheles pretoriensis, female (Natural History Museum, London, photo by James Turner, National Museum of Wales).