Culex (Culex) simpsoni Theobald, 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 : 38

Culex (Culex) simpsoni Theobald, 1905 ( Fig. 36 )

Type locality. Transvaal , South Africa.

Distribution. This species is widespread in the Afrotropical Region ( Wilkerson et al. 2021). In the Middle East and North Africa, it occurs in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Yemen ( Edwards 1914; Lewis 1956; Knight 1953a; Mattingly & Knight 1956; White 1980; Harbach 1985, 1988; van Harten & Wagener 1994; Brunhes et al. 2000; Alahmed et al. 2010; Kheir et al. 2010; Al Ahmad et al. 2011; Alahmed 2012; Al Ashry et al. 2014; Tantely et al. 2016; Lemine et al. 2017; Trari et al. 2017; Simsaa et al. 2021; Wilkerson et al. 2021). It seems that the first record of the species in Saudi Arabia is attributable to Kheir et al. (2010).

Remarks. Alahmed et al. (2019) commented that the record of this species in Saudi Arabia is doubtful and requires confirmation since the identification was based on larvae and adults and not on the male genitalia, which provide the only reliable characters to distinguish this species from the closely related Cx. sinaiticus Kirkpatrick.

Medical importance. Nothing is known about the vector potential of this species, but it is not likely to be of importance in disease transmission because it only rarely bites humans ( Mattingly & Brown 1955). Rift Valley fever virus was detected in a mixed batch of Culex species, which included Cx. simpsoni , in Madagascar ( Tantely et al. 2016).

Figures

FIGURE 36. Culex simpsoni, female (Natural History Museum, London, photo by James Turner, National Museum of Wales).