Subgenus Polylepidomyia Theobald, 1905
Tripteroides argenteiventris (Theobald, 1905), original combination: Polylepidomyia argenteiventris.
Subfamily Culicinae, genus Tripteroides. Subgenus Polylepidomyia includes 19 species. Subgenus abbreviation – Pol.
ADULTS ‒ Unornamented mosquitoes; vertex of head with entirely or largely dark scales, ocular scales white or whitish, 3‒6 ocular setae on either side; clypeus sometimes with scales; maxillary palpus of females at most 0.17 (one-sixth) length of proboscis, usually shorter, maxillary palpus of males 0.7‒0.9 length of proboscis; scutum with narrow scales; dorsocentral setae present or absent; prescutellar setae present; postpronotal setae sometimes absent; scales of thoracic pleura white or whitish; mesopostnotal setae sometimes present; wing veins with narrow scales, sometimes boarder scales apically; femora with anterior surfaces dark-scaled, tibiae and tarsi dark-scaled; hindungues of both sexes usually paired (1 hindunguis in a few species), pale scaling of abdominal terga white or whitish. FEMALE GENITALIA – Postgenital lobe with apical emargination; insula with single row of marginal setae, usually with 2‒5 basolateral setae on each side (absent in Tp. marksae); 3 spermathecal capsules. MALE GENITALIA – Large, conspicuous, usually fully exposed; ninth tergal lobes with slender or sometimes flattened setae; gonostylus slender, tapering toward apex; lateral plate of aedeagus without sternal lobe. LARVAE – Maxilla with short apical tooth and typical maxillary brush; hypostomal suture strongly developed, complete to posterior tentorial pit; seta 15-C inserted far posterior near collar (except in Tp. coheni); seta 6-M varied, long and single, short and branched or very thick and rigid; seta 7-T varied, often very thick and rigid; seta 8-M,T varied, rather small with few branches or larger with many stellate branches; seta 14-I‒VI usually well developed; siphon with lateral seta similar to seta 2a-S. PUPAE – Seta 1-CT very long, usually double, sometimes triple; seta 1-I strongly developed, multi-branched; punctures present on terga III‒V or IV and V; seta 3-VII short, shorter than tergum VIII; seta 9-VII,VIII strongly developed; paddle sometimes with apex slightly produced. See genus Tripteroides.
The phylogenetic relationships of subgenus Polylepidomyia and its species have not been investigated.
The immature stages of Polylepidomyia species have been found in a variety of plant and artificial containers. Larvae and pupae of several species are known to inhabit Nepenthes pitchers, and some have been found in tree holes, stump holes, coconut shells, cut bamboo, cacao pods, ground holes and rock pools. Females of several species are known to bite humans during daytime, but there is no evidence that they harbour or transmit pathogens of human or animal diseases.
Species of subgenus Polylepidomyia occur exclusively in the Australasian Region, including Timor, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, South Pacific from the Solomon Islands to Rotuma Island (but not known in Fiji), Australia (all states) and Tasmania.
Belkin, 1962 (South Pacific, 7 species as members of subgenus Rachionotomyia, taxonomy descriptions, distributions, bionomics); Mattingly, 1980 (classification); Mattingly, 1981 (key characters); Lee et al., 1989 (Australasian Region, keys, taxonomy, characteristics, classification, literature, distributions, bionomics).
altivallis Bonne-Wepster, 1948
apicotriangulatus (Theobald, 1910)
argenteiventris (Theobald, 1905)
atripes (Skuse, 1889)
caledonicus (Edwards, 1922)
coheni Belkin, 1950
collessi Lee, 1946
digoelensis Brug, 1934
floridensis Belkin, 1950
folicola Belkin, 1955
marksae Dobrotworsky, 1965
melanesiensis Belkin, 1955
microlepis (Edwards, 1927)
perplexus Peters, 1963
punctolateralis (Theobald, 1903)
rotumanus (Edwards, 1929)
solomonis (Edwards, 1924)
standfasti Peters, 1959
tasmaniensis (Strickland, 1911)
