Subgenus Davismyia Lane & Cerqueira, 1942
Sabethes petrocchiae (Shannon & del Ponte, 1928), original combination: Miamyia petrocchiae.
Subfamily Culicinae, genus Sabethes. Subgenus Davismyia is monobasic. Huang (2002) returned Davismyia to its previous subgeneric status in Wyeomyia (vide Lane & Cerqueira, 1942) based on a single adult character, antepronotum with a prominent apicomesal angle, but this action has not been accepted because Huang failed to consider the adult and larval characters that are synapomorphic for Sabethes. Subgenus abbreviation – Dav.
Adults of Davismyia are distinguished from other Sabethes by the presence of prealar setae; they possess upper proepisternal setae (distinction from most species of subgenus Sabethes) and lower mesokatepisternal setae (distinction from Sabethinus and some species of subgenus Sabethes), and lack leg paddles (distinction from most members of subgenus Sabethes). Females have some white scaling on the ventral side of the midtarsus. Larvae have seta 4-C inserted lateral to seta 1-C, a highly reduced maxillary brush and seta 8-T inserted between seta 7-T and the pleural setal group; seta 1-I is inserted lateral to seta 2-I (distinction from subgenera Peytonulus, Sabethes and Sabethoides), seta 10-I is inserted far lateral to seta 13-I, seta 1-VII arises from the integument and is inserted lateral to seta 2-VII (distinction from Peytonulus) and a comb plate and an auxiliary seta 4b-X are absent (distinctions from Sabethinus). Pupae have seta 5-III as long as seta 5-IV–VI (distinction from all other Sabethes except certain species of subgenus Sabethes), seta 1-VII is present (distinction from Peytonulus) and seta 8-VII is dorsal in position (distinction from Sabethinus). See genus Sabethes.
The affinities of Davismyia are unknown.
Little information has been published on the bionomics of Sa. petrocchiae. Shannon & del Ponte (1928) collected females while being bitten and speculated that larvae would be found in tree holes. Lane & Causey (1955) described and illustrated the larva and pupa, but did not mention the habitat from which these were collected. Roberts et al. (1984) collected females biting humans during the daytime at canopy level in a double canopy gallery forest in southeastern Bolivia.
The single species of Davismyia is not of medical and economic importance to humans.
The single species of subgenus Davismyia, Sa. petrocchiae, is recorded from Paraguay and neighboring areas of Bolivia, northern Argentina and southern Brazil.
Harbach & Peyton, 1991 (taxonomy, morphology); Harbach, 1991 (comparative morphology); Neves et al., 2024 (Brazil, in keys to adult females, bionomics, distribution).
petrocchiae (Shannon & del Ponte, 1928)
