Anopheles (Cellia) pseudosundaicus Tyagi et al.

Samuel, Philip & Leo, Victorjerald, 2009, Description of a new species, Anopheles pseudosundaicus (Diptera: Culicidae) from Kerala, India, Zootaxa 2219, pp. 49-60 : 50-57

Anopheles (Cellia) pseudosundaicus Tyagi et al.

Description. Female ( Figs.1 a , b) Head: antenna dark brown about 0.7 length of proboscis (mean 0.7; range 0.58–0.75; n=13); proboscis dark brown, about 0.9 the length of maxillary palpi (range 0.75–0.99; n=13); palpus with three pale bands; apical pale band little shorter than the subapical dark band; subapical pale band very narrow, about 1/5 the length of subapical dark band. Vertex covered with broad dark brown scales and erect white scales, frontal setae white, large and bifurcate. Thorax: antepronotum and postpronotum without scales; propleuron with 2 or 3 setae; pleura with broad pale scale patches on mesepimeron and mesokatepisternum; coxae with a patch of broad pale scales. Abdomen: abdominal segments covered with numerous golden setae, the last two segments intermixed with few narrow yellow scales also; terga I–VIII each covered with broad pale scales and few dark brown ones posteriorly; sterna I–VIII each covered with broad dark brown scales and pale scaled patch basally. Legs: femora I, II mainly covered with dark brown scales with few scattered pale scales; femur III largely covered with pale scales anteriorly; tibae I–III dark brown scaled with a narrow stripe of pale scales; tarsi I–III mainly with dark brown scales; fore tarsi with tarsomere 1 with a narrow apical pale band, tarsomeres 2–4 with both basal and apical pale bands, tarsomere 5 completely dark; mid-tarsi with tarsomeres 1–4 with narrow basal and apical pale bands; tarsomere 5 dark; hind tarsi with tarsomeres 1–4 with narrow apical bands, tarsomere 5 completely dark. Wings: mainly dark scaled, about 3mm in length; prehumeral usually completely dark scaled, occasionally interrupted with few pale scales, costa with the following pale spots: humeral, presector, sector, subcostal, and preapical; dark spots other than humeral and preapical are large; pale fringe spots at the end of all veins and rarely a feebly pale fringe spot between 1A and base of wing.

A. Pupal abdomen; B. Pupal trumpet.

Male ( Figs. 1 c, d). General morphological characteristics of body including wings and legs are similar to those of the female. Genitalia (n=12): phallosome with 6 pairs of leaflets, smaller ones spiny form, the longest ones blade-shaped; claspette with a long apical spine (mean 0.27mm; range 0.18–0.31) which is more than twice the length of the club (mean 0.12mm; range 0.09–0.14), 2 small spines one about 1/2 (mean 0.05mm; range 0.03–0.06) and another about 1/3 (mean 0.04mm; range 0.03–0.05) length of the club, arising between the apical spine and the club.

Pupa (Figs. 2 a, b; Table 1). Cephalothorax: moderately pigmented; Trumpet: heavily pigmented with scattered spicules, index 2.34–2.83, mean 2.68 (sd ± 0.23), meatus about 0.40 of the trumpet length. Abdomen; Seta 7-I 2-5(3) branched, shorter than 6,9-I Paddle: width about 3/4 of its length, index 0.7–0.8; refractile border about 4/5 of paddle length (index 0.8) with small clearly defined teeth, fringed hairs on posterior border with hooked tips; 1-P long and hooked; 2-P bifid.

Larva ( Fig. 3 a , b, c; Table 2). Head: setae 1-4-C slender and single, 2-C about twice the length of 3-C; 4- C about equal length of 3-C. Thorax: setae 1-P, 7-15 branched; setae 9-12-P all single; seta 1-M with 25–30 branches, 4-M single, rarely bifid; setae 9-12-M all single; seta 3-T poorly developed with 3-5 branches. Abdomen: seta 1-I (palmate hair) weakly developed with 4–9 leaflets, seta 1-II-VII (palmate hair) well developed, evenly pigmented, filaments sharply differentiated, about twice the length of the blade; tergal plates small to moderate sized, smallest on abdominal segment II; seta 1-VIII single to 7 branched; pecten plate with 12–15 (mean 12) uneven teeth.

Type material. Holotype female (coded A #538) with associated larval (Le #254) and pupal (Pe #256) exuviae mounted on slides with following collection data:- India: Kerala State, Kollam District, Kuzhithura, 22 January 2005, collected as larva from brackish water pool, G. Baskaran collector, deposited in the Museum of Centre for Research in Medical Entomology ( MCRME), Indian Council of Medical Research, Madurai, India. The allotype male (A #543) with associated larval (Le #259) and pupal (Pe #261) exuviae with collection data same as holotype also deposited in MCRME, Madurai. Paratypes (36 males, 72 females, pinned and 78 Le and 78 Pe mounted on slides) with the same collection data as holotype are also deposited in MCRME.

Distribution: Based on collections from two coastal localities in Kerala, south India, a total of 302 specimens of An. pseudosundaicus were examined: Kuzhithura (Kollam district), brackish waterpool, 8 males, 16 females, 11 Le and Pe, 22 Jan. 2005; Valiazheekal (Alleppey District), brackish waterpool, 28 males, 58 females, 5 male genitalia, 69 Pe 27 Le, 23 Jan. 2005 and 21 Jul 2005.

Bionomics: Larvae of An. pseudosundaicus were collected in brackish water pools associated with floating algae, from coastal localities of Kollam and Alleppey Districts, Kerala State, southwest India. Culex (Culex) sitiens Wiedemann was the only mosquito species found co-breeding with An. pseudosundaicus .

Diagnosis. Adult Anopheles pseudosundaicus differ distinctly from those of An. sundaicus due to the absence of leg speckling. Anopheles pseudosundaicus differs from An. subpictus in wing markings; the former having a complete prehumeral dark spot whereas in An. subpictus this dark spot often is divided by pale scales ( Tyagi 1984). The mid tarsus in An. pseudosundaicus bears narrow apical and basal bands whereas that of An. subpictus has only apical bands. The male genitalia of An. pseudosundaicus has two spines near the base of club of the claspette compared to the single spine in An. subpictus and 1–3 spines in An. sundaicus . The larva of An. pseudosundaicus differs from that of An. subpictus in having 4-M single compared to bifid in the latter species. The pupae of An. pseudosundaicus and An. subpictus can be distinguished by seta 7-I: 2-5(3) branched and shorter than 6,9-I in An. pseudosundaicus vs. simple and as long as 6,9-I in An. subpictus (Table 3).

Etymology. This species is named based on its similarities to An. sundaicus particularly its morphological characteristics and breeding habitat in brackish waters.

Remarks. The specimens used in this study comprised field collected larva and pupa as well as adults reared from immatures from tsunami waters in coastal Kerala, India.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. Adult Female palpus (left), and proboscis (right); B. Wing; C. Male genitalia, phallosome; D. Male genitalia, claspette.

FIGURE 3. A. Fourth-instar larva, head; B. Fourth-instar larva, thorax; C. Fourth-instar larva, pecten plate