Tribe Aedeomyiini Theobald, 1901
Aedeomyia Theobald, 1901. [The subfamily name Aedeomyiinae is attributed to Theobald (1901) (as Aedeomyina). In accordance with the Principle of Coordination (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999: Article 36.1), Theobald (1901) is considered to have simultaneously established the coordinate tribal name Aedeomyiini.]
Subfamily Culicinae. Aedeomyiini includes seven species in a ]single genus, Aedeomyia.
Aedeomyia are small, highly ornamented mosquitoes with very broad scales, superficially resembling some aedine mosquitoes, but are readily distinguished by the structure of the antenna - all antennal flagellomeres of females and the apical two flagellomeres of males are unusually short and thick. Larvae have distinctive antennae that are greatly swollen, strongly curved and longer than the head. See Culicinae.
See Harbach & Kitching (1998) and Reidenbach et al. (2009). The phylogenetic relationships of the tribe are uncertain. Based on morphology and distribution, Belkin (1962) suggested that “Aedeomyia is probably a very ancient primitive but highly specialized segregate, which originated in the Old World and reached the New World prior to or very early in the Tertiary”.
Aedeomyia larvae are found primarily in dense swamps and ground pools with abundant aquatic vegetation, but they have also been collected from river margins. They are known to stay submerged for long periods of time, and are suspected of being capable of cuticular respiration through their greatly enlarged antennae. Females of Aedeomyia apparently feed predominantly on birds. Aedeomyia africana have been collected from human bait stationed on platforms in forest canopy, but members of the genus normally are not attracted to humans.
A few arboviruses and avian malarial protozoa have been isolated from species of Aedeomyia, but none of the species are considered to be of importance to humans.
Members of the tribe are found in the Afrotropical, Australasian, Neotropical and Oriental Regions.
Belkin, 1962 (systematics, bionomics, distribuiton); Tyson, 1970 (Southeast Asia, taxonomy, distribution).
Aedeomyia (see).
