Culex (Culiciomyia) lanzaroi Cornel & Mayi, 2020

Cornel, Anthony John, Mayi, Marie Paul Audrey, Kowo, Cyril, Foncha, David, Andongma, Esack, Anong, Damian Nota, Elad, Mirabel, Djomo, Charlene, Tchuinkam, Timoleon, Brisco, Katherine K. & Sehgal, Ravinder, 2020, New species of Culex (Culiciomyia) (Diptera: Culicidae) from Talangaye Forest in Cameroon and descriptions and identification keys for males of the Afrotropical species of the subgenus, Zootaxa 4858 (4), pp. 451-506 : 461-463

Culex (Culiciomyia) lanzaroi Cornel & Mayi , sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0B5B1798-531B-4242-A712-EFA6A575D908

Male. Wing 2.85 mm. Proboscis 1.90 mm. Forefemur 1.55 mm. Thoracic pleura generally with grey to light brown appearance, degree of brown colouration varies from light brown in some specimens to uniformly light grey in others.

Head: Decumbent scales of vertex narrow and white to translucent except for a single row of broader white scales along eye margin and on each side of head ( Fig. 7A ). Erect forked scales quite numerous, dark brown, those in middle of vertex with slightly lighter coloured tips. Maxillary palpus slightly longer than proboscis, palpomeres 4 and 5 bearing setae; palpal comb of palpomere 3 ( Fig. 7B ) consists of translucent scales: proximal 6 or 7 scales lanceolate and longer than distal set of 6 or 7 scales, distal scales attached close together with rounded (spatulate or oblanceolate) pre-apices and short recurved aristate apices. Distinct gap between proximal and distal sets of scales. Antenna slightly shorter than proboscis, apical flagellomeres covered with short setae except for whorl of 7 or 8 long setae at base of terminal flagellomere, all flagellomeres, except last 2, with apical 0.50 white and proximal 0.50 brown. Proboscis entirely dark-scaled.

Thorax: S cutal integument light brown ( Fig. 7C ), sparsely covered with short brown setae, scales at front and on prescutellar area slightly paler, scales on scutellum dirty white. Most of pleural integument same light brown colour as scutal integument ( Fig. 7C ), mid-region of mesokatepisternum, lower 0.50 of mesepimeron, mesomeron and integument of coxae sometimes lighter brown to beige, pleura with setae on following areas: antepronotum, postpronotum (row of 6 on posterior margin), proepisternum, prealar knob, row of narrow translucent scales (easily overlooked and rubbed off) extending from upper mesokatepisternal patch down posterior margin to lower 0.67, and a single lower mesepimeral seta.

Wing: Scales all dark.

Legs: Colouration identical to legs of Cx. apicopilosus .

Abdomen: Terga uniformly greyish brown with slightly paler small basal lateral spots; sterna uniformly brownish grey.

Genitalia: Tergum IX lobes each with row of 7 setae ( Fig. 8B ). Gonocoxite with ventrolateral patch of long setae (each seta approximately 0.67 length of gonocoxite) in 6 irregular rows of 4 or 5 setae ( Fig. 8A,B ); dorsal surface mostly devoid of long setae except for 3 medial and 2 subapical; prominent undivided subapical lobe with 3 broad rod-like setae (a–c), a longer quite stout striated seta (e), 3 barbed setae (d 1 –d 3), 2 more or less equally broad foliform setae (f and g) and 6 finer setae; seta b often appears darker than a and c ( Fig. 8A ). Gonostylus with row of about 10 “spinelets” distal to membranous dorsal crest, 3 or 4 setae on gonostylus where it bends at base of membranous crest and subapical setae near distal end of row of “spinelets”; apex of gonostylus upturned and hook-like ( Fig. 8A,B ). Aedeagus with expanded base bearing a single basal tooth and arms (lateral plates) that curve slightly outwards, lateral plate with numerous teeth along outer margin that extend up to a sharply pointed apex ( Fig. 8A, B ). Paraproct with subapical setae; no obvious sternal process.

Additional notes: Culex lanzaroi males very closely resemble the males of Cx. nebulosus except for obvious differences in the size and shapes of the foliform setae on the gonocoxite and scales of the palpal comb of palpomere 3. Culex lanzaroi has two broad foliform setae on the gonocoxite, one of which is quite oddly shaped and not round like the other, whereas in Cx. nebulosus there is one broadly rounded foliform seta and one much narrower foliform seta. Culex lanzaroi has 8 or 9, mostly 8, setae at the base of the subapical lobe whereas Cx. nebulosus has 5 or 6. Culex lanzaroi has 6 or 7 proximal and 6 or 7 distal palpal comb scales on palpomere 3, whereas Cx. nebulosus has 7 or 8 proximal and 8 or 9 distal scales.

Etymology: This species is named in honour of Dr. Gregory Lanzaro (medical entomologist, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis), who has made significant contributions on the systematics and population genetics of North American and African mosquitoes.

Specimens examined: The holotype male ( BMEC type # 1920) was collected resting inside the field processing tent in CAMEROON , South-West Region, Nguti Subdivision, Talangaye Forest (5.190397º N; 9.3457790º E) with the following label: Talangaye forest , SE Region, Cameroon, resting in tent. Acc. # CAM213 f 15/vii/2017, Adult ♂, gen and palp mounted, Det. A. J. Cornel. Three paratype males collected sweep netting through vegetation on the forest floor within 0.50 km of the processing tent where the holotype was collected. The paratypes have labels indicating their location of collection ( Talangaye forest , SE Region, Cameroon, resting in forest vegetation) and their respective Acc. #s of CAM 163 gb 01/v/2017, CAM 202 ra 12/vii/2017 and CAM 202 ja 14/vii/2017 (dates of collection correspond to date on Acc. #s). Slide mounts of the genitalia have the same labels as the corresponding male carcass. The holotype and paratypes are deposited in the Bohart Museum , University of California, Davis, California, USA .

Figures

FIGURE 7. External features of the male of Culex lanzaroi. (A) Dorsal view of the head (vertex); (B) lateral view of the palpal comb scales (100x); (C) lateral view of the thorax.

FIGURE 8. Male genitalia of Culex lanzaroi. (A) Image (100x); (B) drawn depiction.