Toxorhynchites (Lynchiella) cf. guadeloupensis (Dyar & Knab, 1906)

Cooper, David, Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki, Macdonald, David, Nanova, Olga, Yudin, Viktor, Dugmore, Andrew & Kitchener, Andrew, 2020, Taxonomy, ecology and distribution of the mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of the Dutch Leeward Islands, with a key to the adults and fourth instar larvae, Contributions to Zoology 89 (1), pp. 373-392 : 384

Toxorhynchites (Lynchiella) cf. guadeloupensis (Dyar & Knab, 1906)

During the 2018 survey, two Toxorhynchites larvae were collected on Saba. A fourth instar larva was sampled from a tree hole next to Ladder Hill Road (17°37’49.9” N, 63°15’11” W) and an early instar larva was collected from a bromeliad next to Bud’s Mountain Trail (17°37’ N, 63°14’ W). The characteristics of these specimens are in accordance with the ones mentioned in Augier et al. (2003). Therefore, we assume that these specimens belong to Tx. guadeloupensis . This is in line with the finding of a Tx. quadeloupensis larva in July 1949 by Van der Kuyp (1954) in a bromeliad on Mount Scenery. However, both of our specimens have a ventral brush on the 10th segment consisting of 9-10 tufts, which would suggest that the specimens are more similar to those of Tx. portoricensis (as mentioned in the identification key by Belkin et al. (1970)). This may indicate that Saba hosts two Toxorhynchites species. On Montserrat where these two species of Toxorhynchites occur, Tx. portoricensis occurs only in tree holes and Tx. guadeloupensis only in bromeliads ( Belkin et al., 1970). To further address this issue and identify the Saba species with absolute certainty, more reference material and additional molecular work are required.