Aedes (Aedimorphus) arabiensis ( Patton, 1905 )

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 : 22-24

Aedes (Aedimorphus) arabiensis ( Patton, 1905) ( Fig. 19 )

Type locality. Ulub Camp and Crater, Yemen.

Distribution. In the Middle East, this species is found in Saudi Arabia and Yemen ( Mattingly & Knight 1956; White 1980; Minář 1991; van Harten & Wagener 1994; Jupp et al. 2002; Miller et al. 2002; Alahmed et al. 2010; Al Ahmad et al. 2011; Al Ahmed et al. 2013; Al Ashry et al. 2014; Alikhan et al. 2014; Bakr et al. 2014; Wilkerson et al. 2021; Harbach & Wilkerson 2023). It was recorded for the first time in Saudi Arabia by Mattingly & Knight (1956).

Remarks. Aedes arabiensis was previously considered to be a subspecies of Ae. vexans (Meigen) ( Wilkerson et al. 2021) . Recently, Harbach & Wilkerson (2023) formally elevated it to species status. Muspratt (1955), Gutsevich et al. (1974), Reinert (1973) and Harbach & Wilkerson (2023) should be consulted for characters that distinguish the species from Ae. vexans .

Medical importance. Rift Valley fever virus has been isolated from this species in Saudi Arabia ( Jupp et al.

2002; Miller et al. 2002). Also, this species is a probable vector of West Nile virus in Senegal ( Fall et al. 2012).

Figures

FIGURE 19. Aedes arabiensis, female (Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, photo by David Pecor, Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit).