Aedes (Ochlerotatus) annulipes ( Meigen, 1830 )

Kirik, Heli, Tummeleht, Lea & Kurina, Olavi, 2022, Rediscovering the mosquito fauna (Diptera: Culicidae) of Estonia: an annotated checklist with distribution maps and DNA evidence, Zootaxa 5094 (2), pp. 261-287 : 265

3. Aedes (Ochlerotatus) annulipes ( Meigen, 1830)

( Fig. 2C )

Published sources: Remm (1957: 154), Burtin (2014: 43), Kirik et al. (2021: 11, as part of the Aedes (Ochlerotatus) annulipes group).

Voucher material: 1♀, Mändjala (58° 12′ 56″ N, 22° 19′ 56″ E), 16.VI.2015, L. Tummeleht leg., H. Kirik det., Mosquito Magnet trap, IZBE0210241 , GenBank: OK465167 ; 1♂, Omedu (58° 45′ 09″ N, 27° 02′ 23″ E), 06.VI.2015, O. Kurina leg., O. Kurina det., sweep net, IZBE021218 .

Comment: Aedes annulipes belongs to the Ae. annulipes group, along with Ae. cantans ( Meigen, 1818) , Ae. cyprius Ludlow, 1920 , Ae. euedes Howard, Dyar & Knab, 1913 , Ae. excrucians (Walker, 1956) , Ae. flavescens ( Müller, 1764) , Ae. riparius Dyar & Knab, 1907 , etc. ( Becker et al. 2020). Aedes annulipes can be morphologically distinguished from others species of the group, but this can be difficult when it comes to adult females. This is because of the variability in their morphological traits as well as inconclusive DNA evidence, making species identification time and resource extensive. For the purposes of this study, mosquitoes with morphology similar to Ae. annulipes were designated as specimens of the Ae. annulipes group. In total, 2,091 individuals (8.6% of all specimens collected) were identified as simply belonging to the group. These mosquitoes were active from May to October, but were most numerous in June. Two specimens, which corresponded well to both the morphological description of Ae. annulipes and the partial COI sequences found in online databases, were chosen as the local voucher specimens.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Maps showing the historic and current collection points of individual mosquito species in Estonia. A, Aedes (Aedes) cinereus; B, Aedes (Aedimorphus) vexans; C, Aedes annulipes group; D, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) caspius; E, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) cataphylla; F, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) communis; G, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) cyprius; H, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) diantaeus. Numbers indicate original data and correspond to on the numbers in Fig. 1. Red diamonds indicate localities collected by Remm (1955). In cases where Remm indicated the species was widely distributed in Estonia, the area is shaded in gray.