Culex

Ovipositing Culex quinquefasciatus, photographed by Sean McCann.

Belongs within: Culicidae.

Culex is a large genus of mosquitoes, a number of species of which are significant disease vectors. Females of Culex species lay eggs in rafts of large numbers of eggs, up to 200 at a time. Larvae of the subgenus of Lutzia are predatory; members of this subgenus differ as adults from other Culex species in their high number of lower mesepimeral bristles, with four to six bristles present (versus at most two in other subgenera) (Liehne 1991). The acrostichal bristles (near the midline of the scutum) are well developed in members of the subgenera Culex and Neoculex but reduced in the subgenera Culiciomyia and Lophoceraomyia (Liehne 1991). Members of the subgenus Neoculex have bands of pale segments across the posterior margins of the abdominal tergites; these bands are basal on the segment or absent in the subgenus Culex (Stone 1981).

Characters (from Liehne 1991): Head with decumbent scales narrow, upright forked scales on vertex. Palps shorter than proboscis. Spiracular bristles absent. Lower mesepimeral bristles absent or few in number. Pleura largely bare with a few small patches of scales. Abdomen with segment VIII short and broad, cerci short. Tarsal claws simple, pulvilli present. Larva with antennal seta 1-A inserted beyond midpoint of antenna; prothoracic setae 1P to 7P usually long and branched, 1P to 3P set on distinct sclerotised plate; saddle completely rings anal segment; siphon long, pecten well developed, seta 1-S with several pairs of setae; anal segment with seta 3-X usually long and simple.

<==Culex Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |--C. (Culex) D05
    |    |--C. (C.) annulirostris Skuse 1889 (see below for synonymy) L91
    |    |--C. (C.) asteliae D05
    |    |--C. (C.) australicus Dobrotworsky & Drummond 1953 L91 [=C. pipiens australicus CM70]
    |    |--C. (C.) bitaeniorhynchus Giles 1901 (see below for synonymy) L91
    |    |--C. (C.) crinicauda Edwards 1921 [=C. parvus Taylor 1912] L91
    |    |--C. (C.) globocoxitus Dobrotworsky 1953 L91
    |    |--C. (C.) molestus Forksal 1775 (see below for synonymy) L91
    |    |--C. (C.) palpalis (Taylor 1912) L91
    |    |--C. (C.) pervigilans Bergroth 1889 SS05
    |    |--C. (C.) pipiens Linnaeus 1758 L91, L58
    |    |--C. (C.) quinquefasciatus Say 1823 L91 (see below for synonymy)
    |    |--C. (C.) sitiens Weidemann 1828 (see below for synonymy) L91
    |    |--C. (C.) squamosus (Taylor 1914) (see below for synonymy) L91
    |    |--C. (C.) starkeae Stone & Knight 1958 L91
    |    |--C. (C.) tritaeniorhynchus L91
    |    `--C. (C.) vicinus (Taylor 1916) [incl. C. basicinctus Edwards 1921] L91
    |--C. (Culiciomyia) L91
    |    |--C. (C.) fragilis RK04
    |    |--C. (C.) pullus Theobald 1905 [incl. C. muticus Edwards 1923] L91
    |    `--C. (C.) spathifurca RK04
    |--C. (Lophoceraomyia) L91
    |    |--C. (L.) cubiculi Marks 1989 (see below for synonymy) L91
    |    |--C. (L.) cylindricus Theobald 1903 L91
    |    |--C. (L.) fraudatrix (Theobald 1905) (see below for synonymy) L91
    |    |--C. (L.) hilli Edwards 1922 [incl. C. australis Taylor 1915] L91
    |    `--C. (L.) petersi L91
    |--C. (Lutzia) halifaxii Theobald 1903 (see below for synonymy) L91
    `--C. (Neoculex) L91
         |--C. (N.) fergusoni L91
         `--C. (N.) latus Dobrotworsky 1956 L91

Culex incertae sedis:
  C. antennatus A71
  C. bifurcatus Linnaeus 1758 L58
  C. chryselatus SK56
  C. coronator C09
  C. equinus Linnaeus 1758 L58
  C. gelidus RK04
  C. mollis C09
  C. nocturnus Theobald 1903 T13
    |--C. n. nocturnus T13
    `--C. n. niger Theobald 1913 T13
  C. pulicaris Linnaeus 1758 L58
  C. reptans Linnaeus 1758 L58
  C. restuans C09
  C. stercoreus Linnaeus 1758 L58
  C. tarsalis S81
  C. territans C09
  C. theileri KK91
  C. univittatus A71

Culex (Culex) annulirostris Skuse 1889 [incl. C. bancroftii Theobald 1901 non Skuse 1889, C. consimilis Taylor 1913, C. jepsoni Bahr 1912 non Theobald 1910, C. palmi Baisas 1938, C. simplex Taylor 1914, C. somerseti Taylor 1912] L91

Culex (Culex) bitaeniorhynchus Giles 1901 [incl. C. abdominalis Taylor 1913, C. ager Giles 1901, C. ambiguus Theobald 1903, C. domesticus Leicester 1908 non Germar 1817, C. infula Theobald 1901, C. karatsuensis Mochizuki 1913, C. ocellata Theobald 1907, C. sarawaki Theobald 1907, C. taeniarostris Theobald 1907, C. tenax Theobald 1901] L91

Culex (Culex) molestus Forksal 1775 [=C. pipens molestus; incl. C. autogenicus Roubaud 1935, C. berbericus Roubaud 1935, C. domesticus Germar 1817, C. haematophagus Ficalbi 1893, C. quasimodestus Theobald 1905, C. sternopallidus Roubaud 1945, C. sternopunctatus Roubaud 1945] L91

Culex (Culex) quinquefasciatus Say 1823 L91 [incl. Cu. acer Walker 1848 L91, Chrysoconops acer T13, Taeniorhynchus acer T13, Culex aestuans Weidemann 1828 L91, Cu. aikenii Dyar & Knab 1908 L91, Cu. albolineatus Giles 1901 L91, Cu. anxifer Bigot 1859 L91, Cu. aseyehae Dyar & Knab 1915 L91, Cu. autumnalis Weyenburgh 1882 L91, Cu. barbarus Dyar & Knab 1906 L91, Cu. cartroni Ventrillon 1905 L91, Cu. christophersii Theobald 1907 L91, Cu. cingulatus Doleschall 1856 L91, Cu. cubensis Bigot in Sagra 1857 L91, Cu. didieri Neveu-Lemaire 1906 L91, Cu. doleschallii Giles 1900 L91, Cu. fatigans Weidemann 1828 L91, Cu. pipiens fatigans L81, Cu. fouchowensis Theobald 1901 L91, Cu. fuscus Taylor 1914 L91, Cu. goughii Theobald 1911 L91, Cu. hensemaeon Dyar 1920 L91, Cu. lachrimans Dyar & Knab 1909 L91, Cu. luteoannulatus Theobald 1901 L91, Cu. macleayi Skuse 1889 L91, Cu. minor Theobald 1908 L91, Cu. nigrirostris Enderlein 1920 L91, Cu. pallidocephala Theobald 1904 L91, Cu. penafieli Sanchez 1885 L91, Cu. pungens Weidemann 1828 L91, Cu. pygmaeus Neveu-Lemaire 1906 L91, Cu. quasilinealis Theobald 1907 L91, Cu. quasipipiens Theobald 1901 L91, Cu. raymondii Tamayo in Tamayo & Gargia 1907 L91, Cu. reesi Theobald 1901 L91, Cu. revocator Dyar & Knab 1909 L91, Cu. sericus Theobald 1901 L91, Cu. serotinus Phillipi 1865 L91, Cu. skusii Giles 1900 L91, Cu. stoehri Theobald 1907 L91, Cu. townsvillensis Taylor 1919 L91, Cu. trilineatus Theobald 1901 L91]

Culex (Culex) sitiens Weidemann 1828 [incl. C. annulata Taylor 1914 non Theobald 1905, C. gnophodes Theobald 1903, C. impellens Walker 1859, C. jepsoni Theobald 1910, C. microannulatus Theobald 1901, C. milni Taylor 1914, C. nigricephala Leicester 1908, C. paludis Taylor 1913, C. saibaii Taylor 1912, C. salinus Baisas 1938, C. salus Theobald 1908, C. somaliensis Neveu-Lemaire 1906] L91

Culex (Culex) squamosus (Taylor 1914) [incl. C. annulirostris Taylor 1914 non Skuse 1914, C. taylori Edwards 1921] L91

Culex (Lophoceraomyia) cubiculi Marks 1989 [=Lophoceratomyia annulata Taylor 1916 nec C. annulata Theobald 1905 nec C. annulata Taylor 1914, C. fraudatrix annulata] L91

Culex (Lophoceraomyia) fraudatrix (Theobald 1905) [incl. C. cairnsensis Taylor 1919, C. molestus Weidemann 1828 non Forskal 1775] L91

Culex (Lutzia) halifaxii Theobald 1903 [incl. C. aureopunctis Ludlow 1910, C. multimaculosus Leicester 1908, C. raptor Edwards 1922, C. vorax Edwards 1921] L91

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.

[C09] Chaverri, L. G. 2009. Culicidae (mosquitos, zancudos). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 1 pp. 369–388. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[CM70] Colless, D. H., & D. K. McAlpine. 1970. Diptera (flies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 656–740. Melbourne University Press.

[D05] Derraik, J. G. B. 2005. Presence of Culex asteliae larvae and Ochlerotatus notoscriptus adults (Diptera: Culicidae) in a native tree canopy in the Auckland region. Weta 29: 9–11.

[KK91] Kamarinchev, B., T. Kovacheva, T. Christova, G. Georgieva & V. Zlatanova. 1991. Studies on mosquitoes and ticks as carriers of alpha-, flavi- and bunyaviruses. In: Dusbábek, F., & V. Bukva (eds) Modern Acarology: Proceedings of the VIII International Congress of Acarology, held in České Budĕjovice, Czechoslovakia, 6–11 August 1990 vol. 2 pp. 89–92. SPB Academic Publishing: The Hague.

[L91] Liehne, P. F. S. 1991. An Atlas of the Mosquitoes of Western Australia. Health Department of Western Australia.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.

[RK04] Russell, R. C., & B. H. Kay. 2004. Medical entomology: changes in the spectrum of mosquito-borne disease in Australia and other vector threats and risks, 1972–2004. Australian Journal of Entomology 43 (3): 271–282.

[SS05] Snell, A. E., & P. J. Sirvid. 2005. Mosquitoes of the Chatham Islands: notes on Opifex chathamicus (=Ochlerotatus chathamicus) (Dumbleton) (Diptera: Culicidae). Weta 29: 6–8.

[S81] Stone, A. 1981. Culicidae. In: McAlpine, J. F., B. V. Peterson, G. E. Shewell, H. J. Teskey, J. R. Vockeroth & D. S. Wood (eds) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 1 pp. 341–350. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.

[SK56] Stone, A., & K. L. Knight. 1956. Type specimens of mosquitoes in the United States National Museum: III, the genera Anopheles and Chagasia (Diptera, Culicidae). Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 46 (9): 276–280.

[T13] Theobald, F. V. 1913. Culicidae from New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands. In: Sarasin, F., & J. Roux (eds) Nova Caledonia: Forschungen in Neu-Caledonian und auf den Loyalty-Inseln. A. Zoologie vol. 1 pt 3 pp. 163–164. C. W. Kreidels Verlag: Wiesbaden.

Last updated: 8 December 2018.