Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse)

Yiiau-Min Huang, 1968, Neotype Designation for Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse), Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 70, pp. 297-302 : 297-301

Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse)

( Figs. 1, 2 )

Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus ( Skuse), 1894 , Indian Mus. Notes 3 (5):20 (♀; Culex albopictus Skuse ). Type locality: Calcutta, India .

Neotype hereby designated: ♂ ( N o. 1-14-104 ) with associated pupal skin and terminalia slide ( 68/1054 ), Botanical Garden, Calcutta , Bengal, India, 3. VII. 1967. (S. Ramalingam; E. D. Abraham & E. S. Abraham collectors). Deposited in U. S. National Museum.

MALE. Head. (F ig. 1 A). Proboscis dark scaled, as long as fore femur; palpus longer than proboscis, with a white basal band on each of segments 2-5; those on segments 4, 5 incomplete dorsally; segments 4, 5 subequal, slender, upturned, and with only a few short hairs; antenna plumose, slightly shorter than proboscis; clypeus bare; torus covered with white scales except on dorsal side; decumbent scales o f vertex all broad and flat; erect forked scales dark, not numerous, restricted to occiput; vertex with a median stripe o f broad white scales, with broad dark scales on each side interrupted by a lateral stripe o f broad white scales followed by a patch o f white broad scales ventrally. Thorax. ( Figs. 1 A, D). Scutum with narrow dark scales and a prominent median longitudinal stripe of similar white ones, the median stripe narrows slightly posteriorly and forks at beginning o f the prescutellar space, there is on each side a posterior dorsocentral white line which does not reach to the middle o f the scutum; a patch of broad flat white scales on the lateral margin just before the level o f the wing root and few narrow curved white scales over the wing root; acrostichal bristles absent; dorsocentral bristles present; scutellum with broad white scales on all lobes and with a few broad dark ones at the apex o f mid lobe; anterior pronotum (apn) with broad white scales; posterior pronotum (ppn) with broad white scales and some dark narrow ones dorsally; paratergite with broad white scales; postspiracular (psp) area without scales; patches o f broad white scales on propleuron (p p l), on the subspiracular (ssp) area, on the upper and lower portions of stemopleuron (stp) and on the upper and lower portions of mesepimeron (m ep); mesepimeron (m ep) scale patches connected forming a V-shaped white scale patch, the open side o f the V directed backwards; lower mesepimeron (m ep) without bristle; metameron bare. Wing. ( Fig. 1 A). W ing with dark scales on all veins except for a minute basal spot of white scales on the costa. HaJtere with dark scales. Legs. (Fig. I E). Coxae with patches of white scales; knee-spots present on all femora; fore and mid femora dark anteriorly; paler posteriorly; hind femur anteriorly with a broad white longitudinal stripe which widens at base and is narrowly separated from the apical white scale patch; fore and mid tibiae dark anteriorly, paler posteriorly; hind tibiae dark; fore and mid tarsi with basal white bands on segments 1-2; hind tarsus with basal white bands on segments 1—4, segment 5 all white; fore and mid legs with tarsal claws unequal, the larger one toothed, the smaller one simple; hind leg with tarsal claws equal, simple. A bdomen. ( Figs. 1 A, B). Abdominal segment I with white scales on laterotergite; terga III-V I each with a basal transverse white band which widens laterally; with lateral white spots; the lateral spots not connected with the basal transverse bands; terga II, VII with lateral white spots only; sternum VIII largely covered with white scales (the description was made before the terminalia were re- m oved). Terminalia. (F ig. 2C). Basimere relatively short and broad, 2 times as long as wide; its scales restricted to dorsolateral, lateral and ventral areas; with a patch o f 9 hairs on the basomesal area o f dorsal surface; mesal surface extensively membranous; claspette large, mushroom-like, with numerous setae and with several widened specialized curved setae on the expanded distal part; distimere simple, elongate, apex somewhat swollen and with some hairs; with a spiniform process at apex; aedeagus with distinct lateral sclerotized plates; with several teeth on each side; paraprocts without teeth; cereal setae absent; ninth tergum with a conspicuous horn-like median projection and with two hairy lateral lobes.

Neo-Allotype: ♀ ( N o. 1-14-15 ) with same data as neotype male. Deposited in U.S. National Museum.

FEMALE. ( Fig. 1 C). Essentially as in the male. Differs from the male in the following respects: Palpus % of proboscis, with white scales on apical half. Fore and mid-legs with tarsal claws equal, simple. Abdominal basal bands on terga II—VII; segment VIII largely retracted.

PUPA. ( Figs. 2 A, B). Chaetotaxy as shown in figure which was drawn from the skin of the neotype male. Hair 2-1 and 3-1 not widely separated, the distance between them as the distance between 4-1 and 5- 1; hair l-I I branched; hair 2-II laterad of hair 3-II; hairs 3-II and 3-III simple, shorter than segment III; hairs 5-IV, 5-V and 5-VI simple, not reaching beyond the posterior margin o f the following segment; hair 9-VIII single, barbed; paddle margins with fringe; hair 1- P single.

TAXONOMIC DISCUSSION. The male terminalia o f this species having the IXth tergum with a conspicuous horn-like median projection differs from all other species that have been described in this subgenus. The external diagnostic characters for separating Aedes (Stegomyia ) albopictus (Skuse) from A. (S.) pseudalbopictus Borel, A. (S.) scutellaris (W alker) and A. (S.) aegypti (Linnaeus) are as follows.

A. albopictus (male and female) can be distinguished from A. pseudalbopictus (male and female) by the presence o f a patch of broad flat white scales on the lateral margin o f the scutum just before the level o f wing root; pseudalbopictus has only narrow curved white scales in this position.

A. albopictus (male and female) can be distinguished from A. scutellaris (male and female) by the abdominal lateral white spots which are not connected with the abdominal basal white bands and by having the supraalar white line not clearly defined and with only narrow scales posteriorly; in scu tellaris the abdominal lateral white spots are connected with the tergal bands; the supraalar white line is complete, extending over the wing root towards the scutellum and with broad scales posteriorly.

When scutal markings were rubbed off, A. aegypti has been misidentified as albopictus . It can be distinguished by having the two mesepimeral scale patches separated whereas they are connected in albopictus .

Figures

Fig. 2, Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse). A, B, dorsoventral aspects of the neotype male pupa; C, tergal aspect of the neotype male terminalia.