Culex (Culex) sinaiticus Kirkpatrick, 1925a

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 : 39

Culex (Culex) sinaiticus Kirkpatrick, 1925a ( Fig. 37 )

Type locality. Sinai, Egypt.

Distribution. This species is found in the Afrotropical and Palaearctic Regions ( Azari-Hamidian et al. 2019). In the Middle East and North Africa, it occurs in Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen ( Edwards 1914; Knight 1953b; Lewis 1956; Mattingly & Knight 1956; Margalit & Tahori 1974; White 1980; Harbach 1985; Harbach et al. 1989; Minář 1991; van Harten & Wagener 1994; Al-Khalili et al. 2000; Brunhes et al. 2000; Al-Ali et al. 2008; Alahmed et al. 2009; Al Ahmad et al. 2011; Azari-Hamadian et al. 2019; Camp et al. 2019; Simsaa et al. 2021; Wilkerson et al. 2021). Culex sainiticus was recorded for the first time in Saudi Arabia by Mattingly & Knight (1956).

Remarks. Culex sinaiticus is very similar to Cx. simpsoni in all life stages ( Harbach 1988). Alahmed et al. (2019) suggested examining the charcaters of male genitalia in specimens of Cx. simpsoni from Saudi Arabia to verify its presence in the country.

Medical importance. This species plays no role in disease transmission ( Kirkpatrick 1925b; Harbach 1988).

Figures

FIGURE 37. Culex sinaiticus, female (Natural History Museum, London, photo by Natural History Museum, London).