Aedes (Rusticoidus) rusticus (Rossi)

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 : 47-48

Aedes (Rusticoidus) rusticus (Rossi)

subspecies rusticus ( Rossi, 1790) —original combination: Culex rusticus . Distribution: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Crimean Peninsula, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia? (see Kirik et al. 2022), France, Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom ( Wilkerson et al. 2021, excluding Norway, see Mehl 1996).

subspecies subtrichurus Martini, 1927 —original combination: Aedes subtrichurus (varietal status by Edwards 1932a; subspecific status by Harbach & Howard 2007). Distribution: Turkey ( Martini 1927).

Martini (1927) originally described subtrichurus as a distinct species of Aedes , but later ( Martini 1931a) considered it to be a variety of Ae. diversus ( Theobald, 1901c) . It became a variety of Ae. rusticus when diversus was synonymized with that species ( Edwards 1932a). Harbach & Howard (2007) recognized subtrichurus as a subspecies of Ae. rusticus because it was originally proposed as the valid name of a species, per Article 45.6.4.1 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Martini (1927) described Ae. subtrichurus based on specimens from the eastern end of the Gulf of Izmit (spelled as Ismid), located at the easternmost edge of the Sea of Marmara. Because this is the only record of subtrichurus , the locality lies within the wide distribution of Ae. rusticus and it is based merely on minor morphological differences, Aedes subtrichurus Martini, 1927 is hereby formally regarded as a synonym: subtrichurus Martini, 1927 , junior subjective synonym of Aedes (Rusticoidus) rusticus ( Rossi, 1790) . Consequently, “ Aedes subtrichurus ” should be removed from the list of species of Aedes in the Encyclopedia of Life.

With the synonymy of subtrichurus, Ae. rusticus now includes seven junior synonyms. The previously recognized synonyms include Culex maculatus Meigen, 1804 , Cx. musicus Leach, 1825 , Cx. pungens Robineau-Desvoidy, 1827 , Cx. quadratimaculatus Macquart, 1834 , Cx. diversus Theobald, 1901c and Cx. nemorosus var. luteovittata Theobald, 1901c , all of which have type localities in Europe.