Climacura Howard, Dyar & Knab, 1915

The following combinations of characters distinguish subgenus Climacura from the other subgenera of Culiseta. ADULTS ‒ Maxillary palpus of females with palpomere 5 small, round or elongate, maxillary palpus of males as long as or longer than proboscis, palpomeres 4 and 5 slender or more or less thickened; antepronotum without scales, with setae only; postpronotum with posterior setae and narrow scales; 1‒7 prespiracular setae; scutellum with narrow scales; wing with or without darker clusters of scales; base of subcosta with reduced number of ventral setae; mediocubital crossvein well before radiomedial crossvein; tarsi entirely dark-scaled or hindtarsi with distinct basal pale bands; abdominal tergum I with setae only; terga II‒VIII usually entirely dark-scaled (Cs. marchettei with basal pale bands on terga V‒VIII). MALE GENITALIA ‒ Ninth tergal lobes with long setae; gonocoxite without apicodorsal lobe; basal mesal lobe rather small, conical, with variously developed setae; gonostylus with single terminal gonostylar claw; aedeagus usually simple and weakly sclerotised (strongly sclerotised laterally with 3 or 4 prominent apical denticles in Cs. marchettei). EGGS. Eggs laid in rafts. LARVAE ‒ Head very large; antenna long, slender, longer than head; seta 1-A large, inserted well beyond mid-length of antenna; setae 2,3-A very long, usually slightly removed from apex of antenna; comb scales in single row; siphon long, index 4.0‒7.5, seta 1-S small, inconspicuous, single or with 2‒5 branches, inserted at extreme base of siphon, setae 1a-S and 2a-S present, seta 1a-S in more or less single mid-posterior row on distal 0.5‒0.75 of siphon; saddle complete; seta 2-X multi-branched; ventral brush (seta 4-X) with or without precratal setae, small if present. PUPAE ‒ Generally not well studied; setae 1,2-Pa usually both present (2-Pa apparently absent in Cs. novaezealandiae). See genus Culiseta.