Eretmapodites wansoni Edwards

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 : 112-113

Eretmapodites wansoni Edwards

subspecies douceti Adam & Hamon, 1959 —original combination: Eretmapodites oedipodius [oedipodeios] ssp. douceti . Distribution: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire ( Wilkerson et al. 2021).

subspecies wansoni Edwards, 1941 —original combination: Eretmapodites oedipodius [oedipodeios (sic)] ssp. wansoni (specific status by Hamon 1961). Distribution: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Togo ( Wilkerson et al. 2021).

Prior to Hamon (1961), the species known as Er. oedipodius Edwards, 1912b consisted of six subspecies: The nominotypical subspecies, douceti Adam & Hamon, 1959 , marcelleae Adam & Hamon, 1959 (incorrectly spelled marcellei, emended by White 1975), parvipluma Edwards, 1941, stanleyi Edwards, 1941 and wansoni Edwards, 1941 . Hamon (1961) synonymized stanleyi with oedipodius , raised marcelleae, parvipluma and wansoni to specific rank, and recognized douceti as a subspecies of wansoni , based mainly on characters of the genitalia and the ornamentation of the mid- and hindtarsi of males. He proffered the following taxonomic assessment (translated from the French).

The subspecies oedipodius , parvipluma, wansoni , marcellae [sic] and douceti are very clearly distinguished from each other by the male genitalia and can be classified into two groups depending on whether the simple claw of the midleg is flattened ( oedipodius and marcellae) or not (parvipluma, wansoni and douceti ). The simultaneous presence of marcellae and oedipodius in the same region and the great differences that exist in the structure of the apical leaf of the proximal claspette make it necessary to treat them as distinct species. Although the ranges do not coincide (within the limits of our current knowledge), it also seems logical to treat parvipluma and wansoni as separate species, given the differences in the structure of the proximal claspette which, in parvipluma, bears in its apical part two long fine setae and a spiculate leaf while, in wansoni , this claspette has half a dozen long fine setae and ribbed leaves with unspiculate edges. The status of douceti is less clear and we propose to maintain it as a subspecies of wansoni , given the affinities found both in the structure of the male genitalia and the claw of the midleg and in the ornamentation of the posterior tarsus [hindtarsus]. It seems that wansoni is confined to the lower Guinean forest district and douceti exists only in the upper Guinean savannah district, but there are still very large gaps in collecting in these areas.

Subspecies douceti was described from three males, two reared from larvae collected from water held in a fallen leaf in the Nasso forest of present-day Burkina Faso and one captured while flying in undergrowth of oil palms at Katiola, Ivory Coast ( Adams & Hamon 1959). In addition to those specimens, Hamon (1961) also examined a male from Togo, which only differed from the type specimens of douceti in the apical leaf of the proximal claspette being bifid at the apex.

Adam & Hamon (1959) described the male of douceti as follows (translated from the French).

The posterior tarsus [hindtarsus] is similar to that of Eretmapodites oedipodius wansoni Edwards : the 3rd tarsomere bears neither erect scales nor long setae; the 4th and 5th tarsomeres are enlarged and pinnate, each forming a pronounced angle with the preceding tarsomere.

The 5th tarsomere of the midleg does not bear an abnormally enlarged claw (fig. 3 B).

The male genitalia (fig. 2) are characterized by the proximal claspette which is short, quite thick in its basal 2/3, then sharply narrows and bears half a dozen setae at the point of narrowing, but none are inserted close to the leaf as in E. oe. wansoni ; the terminal leaf is quite broad, tapering at its apex and barbed laterally. The distal claspette is long, curved, with a rounded apex bearing a long lateral seta, six small joined leaves thinning into a filament at their end and 12 to 14 strong setae curved in the form of a hook.

Based on these differences, and the fact that douceti is known only from localities in savannah, as opposed to wansoni being known only from forest sites, it is surprising that Haman (1961) preferred to recognize douceti as a subspecies of wansoni . We believe that when the larval and pupal stages of wansoni are known and compared with those of douceti , and molecular data become available for both forms, it will be apparent that douceti and wansoni are separate species. Until proven otherwise, we hereby formally elevate douceti to species rank: Eretmapodites douceti Adam & Hamon, 1959 . Eretmapodites douceti is currently listed as a species in the Encyclopedia of Life, however the date of authorship needs to be corrected from 1958 to 1959. The issue of the journal (no. 4) intended for publication in 1958 was not published until 1959.