The insupportable validity of mosquito subspecies (Diptera: Culicidae) and their exclusion from culicid classification

Abstract

Beginning about 80 years ago, the recognition of morphological varieties of mosquitoes was gradually replaced by the recognition of subspecies. As an examination of revisionary and detailed taxonomic studies of mosquitoes clearly shows, subspecies are untenable concepts which have been synonymized with nominotypical forms or recognized as distinct species. Thus, from our perspective, subspecies is not a functional or practical taxonomic rank. Consequently, in this study we critically assessed the taxonomic status of the 120 nominal taxa distinguished as subspecies before now to determine whether they should be recognized as separate species or synonymous names. As a result, 96 subspecies are formally elevated to specific rank, 22 are relegated to synonymy with nominotypical forms, one is considered a nomen dubium, one a species inquirenda and the names of four nominal species regarded as synonyms are revalidated. The subspecies and their new status are listed in a conspectus. The revalidated species include Anopheles argentinus (Brèthes, 1912), from synonymy with An. pseudopunctipennis Theobald, 1901c; An. peruvianus Tamayo, 1907, from synonymy with An. pseudopunctipennis as nomen dubium; Culex major Edwards, 1935, from synonymy with Cx. annulioris consimilis Newstead, 1907; and Trichoprosopon trichorryes (Dyar & Knab, 1907), from synonymy with Tr. compressum Lutz, 1905. Additionally, the type locality of Anopheles sergentii Theobald, 1907 is restricted to El Outaya, Biskra Province, Algeria. A complete list of species to be retained, added to or removed from the Encyclopedia of Life, with a few corrections, is provided.

Extensive variation and strain-specificity in dengue virus susceptibility among African Aedes aegypti populations

“…The species is native to Africa, but it is currently found throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the globe, and its distribution is expected to further expand in response to accelerating urbanization, connectivity, and climate change [ 1 ]. Two distinct subspecies of Aedes aegypti (that may even be considered distinct species [ 2 ]) were described by early taxonomists based on morphological and ecological differences [ 3 ] that were later associated with genetic variation [ 4 ]. Aedes aegypti formosus ( Aaf ) is a dark-colored, generalist subspecies found exclusively in sub-Saharan Africa that breeds both in forest and urban habitats and blood feeds on a variety of vertebrate hosts.…”

Wing geometric morphometrics and COI barcoding of Culex pipiens subgroup in the Republic of Korea

“…Following the recent update in Culicidae nomenclature, there are no longer subspecies in mosquito classification. Culex pipiens pallens has been elevated to species status and is now referred to as Culex pallens 11 . Culex pipiens is recognized for having two ecological forms ( Culex pipiens f. pipiens and Culex pipiens f. molestus Forskal) 8 – 10 .…”

Species diversity and spatial distribution of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from La Isla Amazon Park, Napo Province, Ecuador

“…Culicidae is diverse, currently with 3 718 species classified into two subfamilies. Anophelinae comprised of three genera, Culicinae divided into 11 tribes, encompassing 113 genera (Harbach & Wilkerson, 2023). In Ecuador, there are recorded species from both subfamilies, eight tribes, 22 genera, totaling 200 species (Ponce et al, 2021;Ramón et al, 2019).…”