Mansonioides Theobald

Harbach, Ralph E. & Howard, Theresa M., 2007, Corrections in the status and rank of names used to denote varietal forms of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae), Zootaxa 1542, pp. 35-48 : 42

Subgenus Mansonioides Theobald

africana subspecies nigerrima ( Mansonia nigerrima Theobald, 1910 ). Holotype Ψ: Mpumu, Uganda (BM).

Theobald (1910) described and named Mansonia nigerrima from a single female. Three years later, Edwards (1913) listed it both as a synonym and a doubtful variety of M. africanus (as Mansonioides africanus ), pointing out that it “may perhaps rank as a good variety; it is much darker than the type: the thorax is darker, with hardly a trace of pale markings; the dark scales of the wings are much more numerous than the light, and the white rings at the bases of the hind tarsal joints are much narrower than in typical M. africanus . The male genitalia, however, do not differ in any way”. Despite Edwards’ (1913) apparent reluctance to treat nigerrima as a variety, implying that it should perhaps be regarded as an infrasubspecific entity, it is deemed to have subspecific rank because it was adopted (originally) as the valid name of a species before 1985 (Article 45.6.4.1).