Subgenus Sabethoides Theobald, 1903
Sabethes confusus Theobald, 1903 [subjective synonym of Sabethes chloropterus (von Humboldt, 1819)], original combination: Sabethoides confuses.
Subfamily Culicinae, genus Sabethes. Subgenus Sabethoides currently includes four formally named species. Subgenus abbreviation – Sbo.
The adults of Sabethoides differ from those of the other subgenera of Sabethes by having the ventral surface of the midtarsi largely white-scaled. The presence of upper proepisternal setae and the absence of leg paddles distinguish them from most species of subgenus Sabethes. They lack prealar setae (distinction from Davismyia) and possess lower mesokatepisternal setae (distinction from Sabethinus). Larvae of Sabethoides have seta 1-I inserted mesal to seta 2-I (distinction from Davismyia and Sabethinus); seta 10-I usually inserted mesal (sometimes in line with) seta 13-I (distinction from Davismyia and most species of subgenera of Sabethes and Sabethinus); seta 1-VII unmodified and not borne on a tubercle (distinction from Peytonulus); and lack a comb plate and an auxiliary seta 4b-X (distinctions from Sabethinus). Pupae of Sabethoides are not readily distinguished from pupae of subgenera Davismyia and Sabethes. The presence of seta 1-VII distinguishes them from pupae of Peytonulus and the ventral placement of seta 8-VII distinguishes them from pupae of Sabethinus. See genus Sabethes.
The phyletic affinities of Sabethoides are uncertain. Based on character agreement, Sabethoides appears to be more closely related to subgenera Sabethinus and Davismyia than to subgenera Peytonulus and Sabethes. The three subgenera, however, differ markedly in all life stages. The presence of prealar setae in the adults of Davismyia is particularly noteworthy. Prealar setae are plesiomorphic for Sabethes and symplesiomorphic with Wyeomyia. Sabethoides and Peytonulus were revolved as sister taxa in Judd’s (1996) phylogenetic analyses of morphological data that also included species of subgenus Sabethes.
Mosquitoes of Sabethoides are primarily arboreal. Except for Sa. chloropterus, little bionomical information is available for species of the subgenus. Females seek blood meals in greatest numbers during the early afternoon, which corresponds to the rest period of most arboreal mammalian hosts. Sabethes chloropterus is stenogamous, with mating occurring on a surface following a brief period of prenuptial activity by the male. Females of this species oviposit by hovering in front of a small opening and forcibly ejecting one or two eggs into the phytotelm habitat (Galindo, 1958). Larvae develop in plant cavities and rot holes with small openings, but virtually nothing else is known about their bionomics in the wild.
Sabethes chloropterus appears to play a role in the maintenance and transmission of yellow fever virus in Central America. Ilheus and St. Louis encephalitis viruses have also been isolated from this species in Panama.
Species of subgenus Sabethoides occur in tropical forests in Central and South America.
Harbach, 1991a (taxonomy, comparative morphology), 1991b (larval ontogeny); Neves et al., 2024 (Brazil, keys to adult females, bionomics, distributions).
chloropterus (von Humboldt, 1819)
conditus Moses, Howard & Harbach, 2000
glaucodaemon (Dyar & Shannon, 1925)
tridentatus Cerqueira, 1961
