Anopheles (Cellia) pharoensis Theobald 1901a

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 : 14-16

Anopheles (Cellia) pharoensis Theobald 1901a ( Fig. 10 )

Type locality. Cairo, Egypt.

Distribution. This species is found in the Afrotropical and Palaearctic Regions ( Wilkerson et al. 2021). In the Middle East and North Africa, it occurs in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen ( Knight 1953b; Mattingly & Knight 1956; Kouznetsov 1976; White 1980; Harbach et al. 1989; Minář 1991; Glick 1992; Morsy et al. 1995; Al-Houty 1997; Brunhes et al. 2000; Tantely et al. 2016, 2017; Lemine et al. 2017; Irish et al. 2020; Wilkerson et al. 2021). Anopheles pharoensis was recorded for the first time in Saudi Arabia by Mattingly & Knight (1956).

Remarks. Gillies & de Meillon (1968) noted some morphological variation in the mesonotal scaling, the ornamentation of the wings, the hindtarsal bands, the male genitalia and the pharynx of females. An o pheles pharoensis may be a species complex because of its variation in vector status and behaviour, as well as chromosomal inversions ( Miles et al. 1983).

Medical importance. Despite the fact that this species is zoophilic and it is not considered to be a malaria vector in Saudi Arabia, studies have shown that it is a proven vector in Senegal and a possible vector in Yemen ( Kouznetsov 1976; Dia et al. 2008). Also, An. pharoensis was able to experimentally transmit Rift Valley fever virus in Egypt ( Gad et al. 1987). Additionally, the species is involved in the transmission of the nematode Wuchereria bancrofti and the Babanki, Bangui, Birao, Ngari, Sanar and Wesselsbron viruses in Africa ( Tantely et al. 2016).

Figures

FIGURE 10. Anopheles pharoensis, female (Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, photo by David Pecor, Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit).