Revision of What's New? from Sat, 2020-09-26 11:16

September 2020:

  • (26 Sep) (26 Sep) When Somboon et al. (2020) recognized Anopheles baileyi Edwards as a species complex, they obviously, but without direct statement, raised An. gigas simlensis (James, 1911) to specific status as a member of the Baileyi Complex (see the note for 8 Jun below). Thus, that action bring the number of extant Valid Species to 3,579.

August 2020:

  • (13 Aug) Redescription and transfer of Wyeomyia rorotai Senevet, Chabelard & Abonnenc from Subgenus Uncertain to subgenus Decamyia Dyar by Ribeiro et al. (2020).

July 2020:

  • (3 Jul) Talaga et al. (2020) synonymized Culex pseudojanthinosoma Senevet & Abonnenc, 1946 with Cx. duttoni Theobald, 1901, reducing the number of Valid Species to 3,578. The type material of Cx. pseudojanthinosoma, currently in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, was collected in Africa, misplaced among species of Psorophora from French Guiana and, consequently, its type locality has been listed incorrectly in catalogues as French Guiana.

June 2020:

  • (8 Jun) The classification of Subgenus Anopheles is updated to include the newly recognised Baileyi Complex (Somboon et al., 2020), which is separated from the Gigas Complex of Harrison et al. (1991). The Baileyi Complex consists of five species: An. baileyi Edwards (species A), species B, C and D, and An. simlensis James. The last species is transferred from the Gigas Complex.
  • (1 Jun) Addition of five species of Culex (Melanoconion) described in Sá et al. (2020): Cx. (Mel.) columnaris Sá & Hutchings, Cx. (Mel.) comptus Sá & Sallum, Cx. (Mel.) longisetosus Sá & Sallum, Cx. (Mel.) longistylus Sá & Sallum and Cx. (Mel.) spinifer Sá & Sallum, bringing the number of extant Valid Species to 3,579.

April 2020:

  • (21 Apr) The classification of Subgenus Anopheles is updated to include the revised concept of the Lindesayi Group (Namgay et al., 2020), in which the Lindesayi Complex of Harrison et al. (1991) is recognised as the Lindesayi Subgroup comprising the Gigas and Lindesayi Complexes. Anopheles lindesayi Giles consists of five species informally designated Species A, B, C. D and E, with Species A being the nominotypical species. The former subspecies of An. lindesayi, i.e. benguetensis King, 1931, cameronensis Edwards, 1929, japonicus Yamada, 1918 and pleccau Koidzumi, 1924, are elevated to species status, bringing the number of formally named extant Valid Species to 3,574.

January 2020:

  • (16 Jan) Addition of Heizmannia (Heizmannia) rajagopalani Natarajan, Eapen & Jambulingam, 2020, bringing the number of extant Valid Species to 3,570.
  • (15 Jan) Addition of Hulecoeteomyia bhutanensis (Somboon & Harbach, 2020) [in Somboon et al., 2020] [Aedes (Hulecoeteomyia) bhutanensis Somboon & Harbach, 2020 in the traditional classification of Aedes], bringing the number of extant Valid Species to 3,569.
  • (15 Jan) Fossil Culicidae: Addition of pages for species Coquillettidia adamowiczi Szadziewski, Sontag & Szwedo, 2019 and Coquillettidia gedanica Szadziewski, Sontag & Szwedo, 2019.

November 2019:

  • (18 Nov) Addition of Paraedes jambulingami Natarajan, 2019 [Aedes (Paraedes) jambulingami (Natarajan, 2019) in the traditional classification of Aedini], bringing the number of currently Valid Species to 3,568.

October 2019:

  • (21 Oct) Removal of Wyeomyia compta Senevet & Abonnenc, 1939 from the list of Valid Species and addition of Anopheles (Cellia) fontenillei Barrón et al., 2019, a member of the An. gambiae complex, to the list. The former nominal species was synonymised with Wyeomyia argenteorostris (Bonne-Wepster & Bonne, 1920) by Nascimento-Pereira et al. (2019). The total number of currently Valid Species remains at 3,567.

September 2019:

  • (3 Sep) Revision of Fossil Culicidae, to include: (1) Correction of geologic time periods to agree with the latest version (v2019/05) of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart of the International Commission on Stratigraphy, with deletion of the obsolete term ‘Tertiary’, which was previously widely used for the geologic period from 66 to 2.6 Mya. (2) Addition of pages for the extinct genus Priscoculex Poinar, Zavortink & Brown, 2019 of Anophelinae and the species Priscoculex burmanicus Poinar, Zavortink & Brown, 2019.

August 2019:

  • (26 Aug) Addition of Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) amateuri (Ortega & Zavortink, 2019) and ‘Ochlerotatus (Protomacleaya)’ lewnielseni (Ortega & Zavortink, 2019) [Aedes (Ochlerotatus) amateuri Ortega & Zavortink and Aedes (Protomacleaya) lewnielseni Ortega & Zavortink, respectively, in the traditional classification of Aedini], bringing the number of currently Valid Species to 3,567.

June 2019:

February 2019:

  • (18 Feb) Addition of Toxorhynchites (Toxorhynchites) darjeelingensis Tyagi et al., 2015, bringing the number of currently Valid Species to 3,564. The paper by Tyagi et al. was not known until now because the journal in which it was published does not appear to be covered by indexing and abstracting services.

November 2018:

October 2018:

  • (25 Oct) The following three junior secondary homonyms are replaced with the new names proposed by Harbach (2018):
  1. Anopheles (Anopheles) intermedius (Chagas, 1908, in Peryassú, 1908), junior secondary homonym of intermedia Rothwell, 1907 and intermedius Shingarev, 1928, is replaced by medialis Harbach, 2018.
  2. In the traditional classification of the composite Aedes, Aedes (Aedimorphus) cumminsii mediopunctatus (Theobald, 1909), junior secondary homonym of Aedes (Stegomyia) mediopunctatus (Theobald, 1905), is replaced by mesostictus Harbach, 2018, and Aedes (Neomelaniconion) sylvaticus (Le Goff, Boussès & Brunhes, 2007), junior secondary homonym of sylvaticus Meigen, 1818 and sylvaticus Brunhes, 1983 (currently a synonym of Aedes (Paulianius) madagascarensis van Someren, 1949), is replaced by hylaius Harbach, 2018. Note: replacement names are not needed for these taxa in the phylogenetic classification of composite Aedes established by Reinert et al. (2009) where the former is a subspecies of Aedimorphus cumminsii (Theobald, 1903) and the latter is a species of the genus Neomelaniconion.
  • (25 Oct) Addition of three species which were buried in the literature and only recently discovered: Coquillettidia (Coquillettidia) saotomensis Lien, Lin, Lin & Tseng, 2008; Culiseta (Climacura) taiwanica Lien, Lin & Weng, 1999; Culiseta (subgenus uncertain) wui Lin, Tseng & Lien, 2008. These additions bring the number of currently Valid Species to 3,563.
  • (12 Oct) Addition of Heizmannia (Heizmannia) maximalepido Dong, Zhou & Dong, 2005, bringing the number of Valid Species to 3,560. Note: the name of this species was published as a nomen dubium by Dong et al. (2004) and was regarded as such until the publication by Dong et al. (2005) was recently found in the Europe PMC repository of life sciences literature.

June 2018:

April–May 2018:

  • Corrections and additions made to all taxon pages (extant genus- and family-group taxa).

March 2018:

  • (6 Mar) Numerous additions and changes made to the Phylogenetic relationships sections of genus-group taxa of Anophelinae and Aedini engendered by the studies of Foster et al. (2017) and Soghigian et al. (2017), respectively. Readers are invited to consider the comments in the Classification and Phylogenetic relationships sections of Anopheles.

February 2018:

  • (22 Feb) Psorophora (Grabhamia) pruinosa Martini, 1935 was synonymised with Ps. (Gra.) signipennis (Coquillett, 1904c) by Díaz Nájera (1965a, 1965b). This action was overlooked by later authors and was not recognised in the world catalog of Knight & Stone (1977). Thanks to Aldo Ortega-Morales for pointing this out this oversight. The synonymy reduces the number of Valid Mosquito Species to 3,556.

October 2017:

  • (17 Oct) The specific name of Psorophora (Grabhamia) insularia (Dyar & Knab) is corrected to its original spelling in the combination Janthinosoma insularius Dyar & Knab, 1906. The specific epithet insularius is a Latin masculine noun, meaning ‘a tenant of an insula’, standing in apposition to the neuter Janthinosoma. It was erroneously treated as an adjective and inappropriately emended to insularia in Edwards (1932), and henceforth in the catalogues of Stone et al. (1959) and Knight & Stone (1977).

September 2017

  • (22 Sep) Addition of page for genus Paulianius Brunhes & Boussès (in Brunhes et al., 2017), a new genus in tribe Aedini, including the following: (1) addition of three new species, Paulianius ambremontis Brunhes & Boussès, Pl. hirsutus Brunhes & Boussès and Pl. rodhaini Brunhes & Boussès; (2) transfer of Diceromyia coulangesi (Rodhain & Boutonnier), Di. grassei (Doucet), Di. madagascarensis (van Someren), Di. nivea (de Meillon) and Di. tiptoni (Grjebine) to Paulianius; (3) synonymy of Di. sylvatica (Brunhes) with Pl. madagascarensis (van Someren); bringing the number of Valid Mosquito Species to 3,557 and number of mosquito genera to 113. Paulianius, of course, would be considered a subgenus in the “traditional” classification of Aedes established by Wilkerson et al. (2015).
  • (11 Sep) Culex juppi, proposed by Dumas et al. (2016) does not fulfil the requirements for availability mandated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (Articles 10–20) and is thus a nomen nudum.

June 2017

  • (6 Jun) Addition of Ochlerotatus sallumae (González & Reyes, 2017) (in González et al., 2017) [Aedes (Ochlerotatus) sallumae González & Reyes, 2017 in the traditional classification of Aedes], bringing the number of Valid Species to 3,555.

April 2017

  • (25 Apr) Synonymy of Culex (Culiciomyia) spiculothorax Bram, 1967 with Culex (Culiciomyia) sasai Kano, Nitahara & Awaya, 1954 by Phanitchakun et al. (2017), reducing the number of Valid Species to 3,554.

March 2017

February 2017

  • (23 Feb) Recognition of kobayashii Nakata, 1956, synonymised with alektorovi Stackelberg, 1943 by Danilov (1977), as a valid species based on its subsequent treatment as such by Tanaka et al. (1979) and Tanaka (2002) ‒ Bruceharrisonius kobayashii (Nakata, 1956) [Aedes (Bruceharrisonius) kobayashii Nakata, 1956 in the traditional classification of Aedes] ‒ bringing the number of Valid Species to 3,554.

January 2017

  • (3 Jan) Based on the study of Kengne et al. (2007), nigeriensis Evans, 1931 is a subspecies of Anopheles moucheti Evans, 1925 rather than a synonym of that species. Thanks to Rick Wilkerson for bringing this to my attention.

IMPORTANT TAXONOMIC CHANGES (other previous items of What's New? removed)

December 2016

  • (2 Dec) A sixth new species described in Peryassú (1908) (see below, 22 Nov) is incorrectly attributed to this author in the world catalogue of mosquitoes (Knight & Stone, 1977). The correct authorship of this species, Psorophora albigenu, as indicated by Peryassú, is Adolpho Lutz. The authorship of this species has been corrected in the Valid Species List and in the applicable taxon pages to Psorophora albigenu (Lutz).

November 2016

  • (22 Nov) The following names, proposed as species of Aedes Meigen, are removed from the Valid Species List and the applicable taxon pages: kolhapuriensis Sathe & Girhe, 2002; panchgangee Sathe & Girhe, 2002; sangitee Sathe & Girhe, 2002; and sangiti Girhe & Sathe, 2001. These are unavailable names (nomina nuda) because they fail to conform to Articles 16.4 and 72.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, which for names proposed after 1999 require fixation of a name-bearing type and a statement naming the collection in which it is deposited (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999). The action reduces the total number of valid species to 3,548.
  • (22 Nov) Five of the new species described in Peryassú (1908) are incorrectly attributed to this author in the world catalogue of mosquitoes (Knight & Stone, 1977). The correct authorship of these species, as indicated by Peryassú, is as follows: Anopheles gilesi (Neiva), An. intermedius (Chagas), An. pseudomaculipes (Chagas), Coquillettidia albicosta (Chagas) and Megarhinus fluminensis Neiva (synonym of Toxorhynchites theobaldi Dyar & Knab). Whereas Edwards (1932) correctly listed Chagas as the author of An. intermedius and An. pseudomaculipes (he apparently overlooked the designated authorship of the other three), Stone et al. (1959) and Knight & Stone (1977) incorrectly listed Peryassú as the author of all five. The authorship of the first four species has been corrected in the Valid Species List and in the applicable taxon pages. Thanks to Richard Wilkerson for noting these errors.

September 2016

December 2015

  • (10 Dec) Misspelling of Catageiomyia lokojoensis (Service, 1959) corrected to Cg. lokojensis [= Aedes (Catageiomyia) lokojensis in the traditional classification of Aedini].

August 2015

  • (26 Aug) This site hosts the phylogenetic classification of tribe Aedini established by Reinert et al. (2009). In view of the aims of the MTI, this is the preferred classification. However, the site now also displays the modified “traditional classification” of the tribe recently proffered by Wilkerson et al. (2015). The phylogenetic classification remains the primary classification and the latter is provided as an alternative classification. Click here or navigate to “Aedini traditional classification” under “Classifications” on the MTI main menu for comments on the classification of Wilkerson et al. and reasons why it is included herein, with corrections to errors in their listings of formal and particularly informal taxonomic groups.

October 2014

  • (27 Oct) Aedimorphus syntheticus (Barraud, 1928), originally introduced as Aedes (Aedimorphus) syntheticus, is no longer a valid replacement name for Aedes (Aedimorphus) fisheri Barraud, 1928, non Dyar, 1917, which was described originally as Aedes fisheri. The specific name of fisheri Dyar is now recognised as a junior synonym of Ochlerotatus ventrovittis (Dyar, 1916). Because fisheri Barraud and fisheri Dyar now reside in different genera, Aedimorphus and Ochlerotatus respectively, syntheticus Barraud is no longer justified as a replacement name for the former. Consequently, Aedimorphus syntheticus (Barraud) has been replaced by Aedimorphus fisheri (Barraud) in the list of Valid Species.
  • (19 Oct) Aedimorphus stenoscutus (Edwards, 1912), originally proposed as a variety of Ochlerotatus minutus, = Catageiomyia minuta (Theobald, 1901), is a junior synonym of Aedimorphus africanus (Theobald, 1909), originally named Stenoscutus africanus. As explained by White (1975), Edwards (1912) transferred africanus Theobald from Stenoscutus to Ochlerotatus, which, at that time, became a junior secondary homonym of Oc. africanus (Newstead, 1907, in Newstead et al., 1907) [originally named Duttonia africana]. For this reason, Edwards proposed stenoscutus as a replacement name for africanus Theobald.
         Stone et al. (1959) listed africanus Theobald and stenoscutus Edwards as junior synonyms of Aedes (Aedimorphus) neobiannulatus (Theobald, 1910), originally named Reedomyia neobiannulata. However, because Stone et al. had overlooked the synonymy of neobiannulatus with tarsalis Newstead, 1907 by Edwards (1941), White (1975) designated the holotype of Reedomyia biannulata Theobald, 1907, objective synonym of neobiannulata and an established synonym of tarsalis Newstead, as the lectotype for Reedomyia neobiannulata Theobald, 1910, thus fixing both nominal species as synonyms of tarsalis Newstead.
         As a result of phylogenetic study, Reinert et al. (2009) resurrected Catageiomyia Theobald, 1903, from synonymy with Aedimorphus Theobald, 1903, to include tarsalis Newstead and 27 other species. As tarsalis Newstead is now a species of Catageiomyia, africanus Theobald (genus Aedimorphus) is no longer a junior secondary homonym of africana Newstead (genus Catageiomyia) and no longer requires a replacement name. Consequently, africanus (Theobald, 1909b), = africanus Theobald, 1910 listed by White, 1975, is a valid species of Aedimorphus and stenoscutus (Edwards, 1912) is its junior synonym. Because stenoscutus Edwards does not meet the conditions of prevailing usage (Article 23.9.01 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 1999), africanus Theobald, in the combination Aedimorphus africanus (Theobald, 1909), replaces Aedimorphus stenoscutus (Edwards, 1912) in the list of Valid Species.

March 2014:

  • (9 Mar) Hulecoeteomyia fluviatilis Leicester, 1908 is here recognised as the senior synonym of Hulecoeteomyia saxicola (Edwards, 1922), originally Aedes saxicola. Edwards introduced the name saxicola as a replacement for fluviatilis Leicester, 1908, non Lutz, 1904 (in Bourroul, 1904), which was described originally as Culex fluviatilis. Both fluviatilis Lutz and saxicola Edwards were recognised as species of Aedes (subgenera Ochlerotatus and Finlaya respectively) until Ochlerotatus was restored to generic rank, with Finlaya as a subgenus, by Reinert (2000). The species were removed from Ochlerotatus by Reinert et al. (2006) and placed in separate genera, with saxicola Edwards in Hulecoeteomyia and fluviatilis Lutz in Georgecraigius (Horsfallius). As fluviatilis Leicester and fluviatilis Lutz are no longer regarded as congeneric, saxicola Edwards is no longer justified as a replacement name for the latter. Consequently, Hulecoeteomyia saxicola (Edwards) has been replaced by Hulecoeteomyia fluviatilis Leicester in the list Valid Species.

August 2013:

  • (24 Aug) Synonymy of Anopheles paraliae Sandosham with Anopheles lesteri Baisas & Hu, 1936 based on genetic compatibility of cross-matings and low genetic distances of ITS2 (rDNA), COI and COII (mtDNA) sequences between the two nominal forms (Taai et al., 2013). Although Taai et al. intended to conduct further studies before “definitely concluding” that these forms were synonymous, the following statement unambiguously verifies the synonymy: “Our studies using crossing experiments between An. lesteri from Korea and An. paraliae from Thailand together with data on species distributions, morphological variants, cytology and comparative DNA sequence analyses have clearly indicated that they are conspecific within the taxon An. lesteri”. Hence, Anopheles paraliae is removed from the list of Valid Species, reducing the number of currently recognised mosquito species to 3,529.

July 2013:

  • (21 Jul) Mucidus (Pardomyia) nigrescens (Edwards, 1929) (in Paine & Edwards, 1929), originally described as Pardomyia aurantia variety nigrescens, is here recognised as the senior synonym of Mucidus (Pardomyia) painei (Knight, 1948), originally Aedes (Mucidus) aurantius painei. The name painei was introduced as a replacement for nigrescens Edwards, 1929, non Theobald, 1907, which was described originally as Aedes nigrescens. However, nigrescens Theobald, 1907 is a synonym of Culex (Eumelanomyia) malayi (Leicester, 1908) based on the recognition of the single male of the type series as the holotype of nigrescens by Sirivanakarn (1972) [note that Townson (1990) incorrectly attributed the lectotype designation of Culex (Eumelanomyia) castrensis Edwards, 1922 by Sirivanakarn (1972) to nigrescens Theobald, 1907]. Consequently, nigrescens Edwards, 1929 is not a homonym of nigrescens Theobald, 1907 and is not a justified replacement name for the latter; hence, Mucidus (Pardomyia) painei (Knight, 1948) has been replaced by Mucidus (Pardomyia) nigrescens (Edwards, 1929) in the list of Valid Species.
  • (19 Jul) Name changes in genus Verrallina as follow:
           Verrallina (Neomacleaya) ceylonica (Edwards, 1917), originally described as Aedes ceylonicus, is here recognised as the senior synonym of Verrallina (Neomacleaya) lankaensis (Stone & Knight, 1958), originally described as Aedes (Aedes) lankaensis and treated as a species of Aedes (Verrallina) by Reinert (1974) before Verrallina was restored to generic rank by Reinert (1999), with lankaensis (Stone & Knight) placed in subgenus Neomacleaya. Stone & Knight proposed lankaensis as a replacement name for ceylonicus Edwards, 1917, non ceylonica Theobald (1910), which was originally described as a variety of Culex (?) japonicus Theobald, 1901 and later synonymised with Aedes (Finlaya) chrysolineatus (Theobald, 1907) (Edwards, 1932; Knight, 1948). When Reinert et al. (2006) transferred chrysolineatus to genus Hulecoeteomyia Theobald, the synonymous ceylonica Theobald was automatically removed from Aedes and placed in Hulecoeteomyia. Because ceylonica Edwards and ceylonica Theobald are now placed in separate genera, Verrallina and Hulecoeteomyia respectively, lankaensis Stone & Knight is no longer justified as a replacement name for the former. Consequently, Verrallina lankaensis (Stone & Knight) has been replaced by Verrallina ceylonica (Edwards) in the list of Valid Species.
           Verrallina (Neomacleaya) taeniata (Leicester, 1908), originally described as Aioretomyia taeniata, is here recognised as the senior synonym of Verrallina (Neomacleaya) incertus (Edwards, 1922, 1922), originally described as Aedes (Aedes) incertus, treated as a species of Aedes (Neomacleaya) by Delfinado (1967) and a species of Aedes (Verrallina) by Reinert (1974) before Verrallina was restored to generic rank by Reinert (1999), with incerta (Edwards) placed in subgenus Neomacleaya. Edwards proposed incertus as a replacement name for taeniata Leicester, non Wiedemann, 1828, which was originally described as Culex taeniatus. The species described by Wiedemann has been recognised as a junior synonym of Culex aegypti Linnaeus, 1762 since Theobald (1905) listed it as a synonym of Stegomyia fasciata (Fabricius, 1805), which was originally described as Culex fasciatus. Culex fasciatus Fabricius and Culex taeniatus Wiedemann became synonyms of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) with the transfer of Stegomyia Theobald to subgeneric status in Aedes Meigen by Edwards (1917, 1932), and they became synonyms of Stegomyia aegypti (Linnaeus) when Stegomyia was restored to generic status by Reinert et al. (2004). As taeniata Leicester and taeniatus Wiedemann are no longer regarded as congeneric, incertus Edwards is no longer justified as a replacement name for the latter. Consequently, Verrallina incerta (Edwards) has been replaced by Verrallina taeniata (Leicester) in the list of Valid Species.
           Verrallina (Verrallina) bancrofti (Taylor, 1914), originally described as Skusea bancrofti, is here recognised as the senior synonym of Verrallina (Verrallina) cunninghami (Taylor, 1944), originally described as Aedes (Aedes) cunninghami and treated as a species of Aedes (Verrallina) by Reinert (1974) before Verrallina was restored to generic rank by Reinert (1999), with cunninghami (Taylor) placed in subgenus Verrallina. Taylor (1944) proposed cunninghami as a replacement name for bancrofti Taylor, 1914, non bancrofti Skuse (1889), which was originally described as Culex bancrofti. The species described by Skuse has been recognised as a junior synonym of Culex aegypti Linnaeus, 1762 since Theobald (1905) listed it as a synonym of Stegomyia fasciata (Fabricius, 1805), which was originally described as Culex fasciatus. Culex fasciatus Fabricius and Culex bancrofti Skuse became synonyms of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) with the transfer of Stegomyia Theobald to subgeneric status in Aedes Meigen by Edwards (1917, 1932), and they became synonyms of Stegomyia aegypti (Linnaeus) when Stegomyia was restored to generic status by Reinert et al. (2004). As bancrofti Skuse and bancrofti Taylor are no longer regarded as congeneric, cunninghami Taylor is no longer justified as a replacement name for the latter. Consequently, Verrallina cunninghami (Taylor) has been replaced by Verrallina bancrofti (Taylor) in the list of Valid Species.
  • (15 Jul) Aedimorphus taeniatus (Leicester, 1908), originally described as Lepidotomyia taeniata, is here recognised as the senior synonym of Aedimorphus orbitae (Edwards, 1922), originally described as Aedes orbitae and treated as a species of Aedes (Aedimorphus), since Edwards & Given (1928), until Aedimorphus Theobald was restored to generic status by Reinert et al. (2004). The name orbitae was introduced as a replacement for taeniata Leicester, non Wiedemann, 1828, which was originally described as Culex taeniatus. The species described by Wiedemann has been recognised as a junior synonym of Culex aegypti Linnaeus, 1762 since Theobald (1905) listed it as a synonym of Stegomyia fasciata (Fabricius, 1805), which was originally described as Culex fasciatus. Culex fasciatus Fabricius and Culex taeniatus Wiedemann became synonyms of Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) with the transfer of Stegomyia Theobald to subgeneric status in Aedes Meigen by Edwards (1917, 1932), and they became synonyms of Stegomyia aegypti (Linnaeus) when Stegomyia was restored to generic status by Reinert et al. (2004). As taeniatus Wiedemann and taeniata Leicester are no longer regarded as congeneric, orbitae Edwards is no longer justified as a replacement name for the latter. Consequently, Aedimorphus orbitae (Edwards) has been replaced by Aedimorphus taeniatus (Leicester) in the list of Valid Species.

June 2013:

  • (23 Jun) Diceromyia nivea (de Meillon, 1943), originally described as Aedes (Diceromyia) niveus, is here recognised as the senior synonym of Diceromyia zethus (de Meillon & Lavoipierre, 1944). The name zethus was introduced as a replacement for niveus de Meillon., non Ludlow, 1903 (in Theobald, 1903), which was originally described as Stegomyia nivea and recognised as a species of Aedes (Finlaya) by Brug (1931) and later workers until it was transferred to genus Downsiomyia by Reinert et al. (2004). As niveus Ludlow and niveus de Meillon are no longer regarded as congeneric, zethus de Meillon & Lavoipierre is no longer justified as a replacement name for the latter. Consequently, Diceromyia zethus (de Meillon & Lavoipierre) has been replaced by Diceromyia nivea (de Meillon) in the list of Valid Species.

March 2013:

  • (9 Mar) Taxonomic note: Hodgesia cyptopus Theobald, 1909. White (1980) regarded the spelling of the name of this species as an unjustified emendation of the original spelling of cuptopous by Theobald. However, the original spelling is a combination of Latin and Greek forms: cypto- from the Greek kytpo- (meaning bent or curved) and pous from Greek (meaning foot). Logically, Theobald should have spelled the name as kyptopous, which when Latinized would be cyptopus (pus the Latin of the Greek pous). Because Theobald misspelled the first part of the name as cupto-, Edwards (1912) apparently corrected this to the Latin cypto- and changed the Greek pous to the Latin pus in agreement. Consequently, cyptopus is not an unjustified emendation of cuptopous.

June 2012:

  • (27 Jun) Anopheles krishnai: A nomen nudum. Sathe & Jagtap (2012) described a purported new species of the Anopheles maculatus group of the Neocellia Series, which they named Anopheles krishnai. Unfortunately, the paper does not provide credible evidence to support the recognition of a new species. The authors overlooked the extensive morphological and molecular work that has been done on the Neocellia Series in southern and southeastern Asia. Instead of contrasting the purported new species with members of this group, the authors conducted a molecular phylogenetic comparison with distantly related species of subgenera Nyssorhynchus in the Neotropical Region and Cellia in the Afrotropical Region (also one species, An. stephensi, from southern Asia). Needless to say, the comparison does not support the recognition of a new species within the Neocellia Series. Furthermore, in view of the current state of anopheline taxonomy, the immature stages as well as both sexes of the adults should have been described and contrasted with closely related species (in concert with molecular data) to ensure the validity of a new species. Not only have the authors failed to do this, they have not adequately fulfilled the criteria of availability for species names established by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature: (1) They provide a brief description and indicate that the species runs to An. maculatus in the key of Rao (1984) but there is no diagnosis or statement of morphological characters that differentiates the purported new species from related or similar taxa (Article 13.1). (2) They designate a holotype, but fail to state the name and location of the collection where it is or will be deposited (Article 16.4). For these reasons, the validity of the species is highly doubtful, and the name krishnai is hereby regarded as a nomen nudum. 
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith