Aedes (Pseudarmigeres) argenteoventralis (Theobald)

Harbach, Ralph E. & Wilkerson, Richard C., 2023, The insupportable validity of mosquito subspecies (Diptera: Culicidae) and their exclusion from culicid classification, Zootaxa 5303 (1), pp. 1-184 : 46

Aedes (Pseudarmigeres) argenteoventralis (Theobald)

subspecies argenteoventralis ( Theobald, 1909) —original combination: Dendromyia argenteoventralis . Distribution: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo ( Wilkerson et al. 2021).

subspecies dunni Evans, 1928 —original combination: Aedes (Armigeres) albomarginata var. dunni (subspecific status by White 1975). Distribution: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria ( Wilkerson et al. 2021) .

Theobald (1909) described and named Dendromyia argenteoventralis based on females collected in present-day Ghana, characterized by a moderately broad border of white scales on the anterior margin of the scutum. A form later found in Nigeria and described as Aedes albomarginata [sic] var. dunni by Evans (1928) was considered to be a variety of Ae. argenteoventralis by Edwards (1930) (afforded subspecific status by White 1975) that differs from the typical form in having few or no white scales on the anterior margin of the scutum. As noted by Edwards (1930, 1941), the male genitalia of the two forms appear to be identical. Whereas the larva and pupa of dunni have been described ( Evans 1938; Hopkins 1952; Edwards 1941), these life stages of the typical form are unknown. Based on the known distributions of the two forms, with the typical form recorded from the Central African Republic, which is bordered by Nigeria to the west and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south where dunni is recorded, it is probable that the two forms occur in sympatry and the amount of white scaling on the anterior margin of the scutum is normal variation within a single species. Consequently, Aedes albomarginatus var. dunni Evans, 1928 is hereby formally regarded as a synonym: dunni Evans, 1928, junior subjective synonym of Aedes (Pseudarmigeres) argenteoventralis ( Theobald, 1909) . This agrees with the Encyclopedia of Life, which does not list dunni as a species.

In addition to dunni (type locality: Lagos, Nigeria), Dendromyia affinis Theobald, 1909 is also a recognized synonym of Ae. argenteoventralis . The type locality of Dendromyia affinis, Obuasi , Ashanti Region of Ghana, is also the type locality of Ae. argenteoventralis .