Subgenus Sabethes Robineau-Desvoidy, 1827
Sabethes locuples Robineau-Desvoidy, 1827 [subjective synonym of Sabethes cyaneus (Fabricius, 1805)].
Subfamily Culicinae, genus Sabethes. Subgenus Sabethes currently includes 18 species. Subgenus abbreviation – Sab.
Species of subgenus Sabethes are the Morpho butterflies of the mosquito fauna. Most species of the subgenus have "paddles" of outstanding scales on some or all of the legs, and the absence of upper proepisternal setae (except in Sa. batesi, which has leg paddles) distinguishes the adults from species of the other subgenera of Sabethes. The absence of prealar setae distinguishes them from the adults of Davismyia, and the absence of ventral white scaling on the midtarsus distinguishes them from species of subgenus Sabethoides. Larvae of subgenus Sabethes are distinguished from other Sabethes larvae by having seta 8-T inserted dorsal or anterodorsal to seta 9-T (distinction from subgenus Peytonulus); seta 1-I inserted mesal to seta 1-I (distinction from subgenera Davismyia and Sabethinus); seta 10-I usually inserted lateral (sometimes in line with) seta 13-I (distinction from Peytonulus and Sabethoides); seta 1-VII unmodified and not borne on a tubercle (distinction from Peytonulus); absence of a comb plate and an auxiliary seta 4b-X (distinctions from subgenus Sabethinus). Pupae of subgenus Sabethes are not readily distinguished from pupae of subgenera Davismyia and Sabethoides. The presence of seta 1-VII distinguishes them from pupae of subgenus Peytonulus and the ventral placement of seta 8-VII distinguishes them from pupae of Sabethinus. See genus Sabethes .
The phyletic affinities of subgenus Sabethes are uncertain. In the absence of Davismyia and Sabethinus, subgenus Sabethes was placed in a sister relationship to Peytonulus + Sabethoides in the phylogenetic analyses of morphological data conducted by Judd (1996).
Species of subgenus Sabethes are diurnal, principally canopy-dwelling mosquitoes. The principal hosts of females are unknown, but they are attracted to humans on the ground and have a predilection for landing on the nose or around the head. Adults of Sa. amazonicus, Sa. cyaneus, Sa. quasicyaneus and Sa. schnusei were captured during human-bait collections made at ground level and on platforms in forest canopy in Peru (Harbach, 1992; Pecor et al., 2000). Sabethes cyaneus exhibits a complex courtship and copulatory behaviour (Hancock et al., 1990), and it is likely that other species of the group exhibit similar behaviour. Larvae of Sa. gymnothorax are apparently predaceous as they attack and consume larvae of other species in the laboratory. Larvae of this species took 4–5 weeks to develop at 25°C under laboratory conditions (Harbach & Petersen, 1992). The larval habitats of most species are unknown. Komp (1936) found larvae of Sa. cyaneus on several occasions deep in the slender stumps of a species of palm. Pecor et al. (2000) collected larvae of Sa. cyaneus and Sa. quasicyaneus in Peru, but did not mention the habitat [probably bamboo internodes] where they were found. Dyar (1928) mentioned a specimen of Sa. cyaneus bred from a tree hole in Panama, and suggested that larvae of this species are probably predacious upon other tree-hole species. Larvae of Sa. bipartipes have been found in tree holes, where they are said to be predacious (Dyar, 1928), and fallen banana leaves (Shannon, 1931). The type series of Sa shannoni was bred from larvae collected from a bromeliad, "bananeira brava" (Bird-of-paradise) and a tree stump (Cerqueira, 1961).
St. Louis encephalitis virus has been isolated from Sa. belisarioi in Brazil, but species of subgenus Sabethes are not known to transmit this or other viruses to humans.
Species of subgenus Sabethes occur in tropical forests in Central and South America.
Harbach, 1991 (taxonomy, comparative morphology); Neves et al., 2024 (Brazil, keys to adult females, bionomics, distributions).
albiprivus Theobald, 1903
amazonicus Gordon & Evans, 1922
batesi Lane & Cerqueira, 1942
belisarioi Neiva, 1908
bipartipes Dyar & Knab, 1906
cerqueirai Nascimento-Pereira, Neves, Lourenço-de-Oliveira & Motta, 2021 (in Nascimento-Pereira et al., 2021)
cyaneus (Fabricius, 1805)
forattinii Cerqueira, 1961
gymnothorax Harbach & Petersen, 1992
lanei Cerqueira, 1961
nitidus Theobald, 1901
ortizi Vargas & Diaz Najera, 1961
paraitepuyensis Anduze, 1941
purpureus (Theobald, 1907)
quasicyaneus Peryassú, 1922
schnusei (Martini, 1931)
spixi Cerqueira, 1961
tarsopus Dyar & Knab, 1908
