Revision of the Atratus Group of Culex (Melanoconion) (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract

Background Despite the importance of some species of Culex (Melanoconion) (Diptera: Culicidae) as vectors of several arboviruses that cause diseases in humans and other animals, there are few taxonomic studies focusing on species of the subgenus, especially providing morphological keys for species identification. Results Thirteen species of the Atratus Group of Culex (Melanoconion) were reviewed, five new species are described, and two taxonomic changes are proposed: Cx. (Mel.) exedrus Root, 1927 and Cx. (Mel.) loturus Dyar, 1925 are resurrected from synonymy with Cx. (Mel.) dunni Dyar, 1918 and Cx. (Mel.) zeteki Dyar, 1918, respectively. The Atratus Group now includes fourteen species: Cx. (Mel.) atratus Theobald, 1901; Cx. (Mel.) caribeanus Galindo & Blanton, 1954; Cx. (Mel.) columnaris Sá & Hutchings n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) commevynensis Bonne-Wepster & Bonne, 1919; Cx. (Mel.) comptus Sá & Sallum n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) dunni; Cx. (Mel.) ensiformis Bonne-Wepster & Bonne, 1919; Cx. (Mel.) exedrus; Cx. (Mel.) longisetosus Sá & Sallum n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) longistylus Sá & Sallum n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) loturus; Cx. (Mel.) spinifer Sá & Sallum n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) trigeminatus Clastrier, 1970; and Cx. (Mel.) zeteki. Keys, descriptions and illustrations for the identification of the male, female, pupal and fourth-instar larval stages of each species are provided. The treatment of each species includes a complete synonymy, descriptions of available life stages, a taxonomic discussion, updated bionomics and geographical distribution, and a list of material examined. Conclusions The taxonomy of the Atratus Group of Culex (Melanoconion) is updated, including descriptions of five new species. The number of valid species is greater than the number recognized in the previous taxonomic study of the group, increasing from seven to 14 species. Distributional and bionomical data are updated. Morphology-based identification keys for females, males, fourth-instar larvae and pupae provided in this study will facilitate species identification.

Tracking arboviruses, their transmission vectors and potential hosts by nanopore sequencing of mosquitoes

“…With this it was possible to identify correct species matching the original study, and to further identify mosquitoes that had only been identified by their genus to the species level of the most closely related taxa. Minor discrepancies were observed, in that C. ameliae was not found in either BOLD or GenBank, and mosquitoes belonging to the species complex, Culex subgenus Melanoconion , were identified as C. atratus , which is one of the more common species within this group that has been identified and characterized in Brazil [38].…”

Key to the Adult Females of Species ofCulexSubgenusMelanoconionin Florida, USA

“…Only 1 of the 2 cryptic species is formally described Savage 2009, 2011). Fourteen species of the Atratus Group are currently recognized (Sa ´et al 2020). Interestingly, Sa ´et al (2020) list, among other characters, that the mesepimeron of Cx.…”

“…Diversity of Melanoconion is greatest in the neotropics, but several species occur in temperate areas of North and South America. A total of 167 species of Culex (Melanoconion) are currently recognized as valid species (Sa ´et al 2020), with a number of species awaiting formal description (Hutchings et al 2016). In the USA, diversity of Melanoconion is greatest in Florida, where 8 species are currently reported to occur (Table 1).…”

“…The subgenus Melanoconion is divided into 2 sections, the Spissipes Section and the Melanoconion Section, which differ substantially in their diversity and medical importance (Sa ´et al 2020). The Spissipes Section is relatively small, containing just 23 species Forattini 1996, Sallum et al 1997), but many members are important vectors of zoonotic Alphaviruses (Torres-Gutierrez and Sallum 2015), particularly Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) and Madariaga virus (formerly considered as South American strains of eastern equine encephalitis virus).…”

Hexapoda Yearbook (Arthropoda: Mandibulata: Pancrustacea) Brazil 2020: the first annual production survey of new Brazilian species

“…From all articles analyzed, only seven (totaling 14 published species) were published in journals with IF higher than three. Out of the seven abovementioned articles, five also involved phylogenies besides taxonomy (Garcia et al 2020a;Guidoti et al 2020;Policena et al 2020;SuPeleto et al 2020b;vaZ et al 2020a), one of them dealt with morphological and molecular taxonomy of a single species of health importance (naScimento et al 2020c), and another was a revision of several health important species (Sá et al 2020). It is possible to notice that none of the seven articles published in journals with IF higher than three dealt solely with taxonomy, as they also had phylogeny or health importance among their subjects.…”