Subgenus Armigeres Theobald, 1901
Armigeres obturbans (Walker, 1859), original combination: Culex obturbans.
Subfamily Culicinae, genus Armigeres. Subgenus Armigeres includes 40 species. Subgenus abbreviation – Arm.
ADULTS – The adults of subgenus Armigeres are easily distinguished from those of subgenus Leicesteria by the presence of postspiracular setae and a lower mesepimeral seta. Other distinctions include the following: clypeus bare or with lateral white scales; maxillary palpus of females less than 0.33 length of proboscis; scutum normal, not compressed nor produced over the head; postpronotum with pale scales posteriorly (no black scales); thoracic pleura with patches of white scales; hindtibia longer or equal in length to fore- and midtibia. MALE GENITALIA – Gonostylus scythe-shaped with close-set claws along inner margin of apical half (except in Ar. treubi, which has a single[/noo-glossary] claw on a bulbous gonostylus, and in Ar. theobaldi, which has 12 claws at the apex as in species of subgenus Leicesteria). LARVAE ‒ Although Armigeres larvae are easily distinguished from those of other genera, no single character reliably distinguishes the larvae of subgenera Armigeres and Leicesteria. Rattanarithikul et al. (2010) used the form of comb scales to distinguish larvae of the two subgenera in Thailand: comb scales rather elongate, rounded or pointed and evenly fringed at sides and apex in species of subgenus Armigeres (ca subgenus. Leicesteria). PUPAE ‒ Pupae of subgenus Armigeres usually have seta 6-CT as long as or longer than seta 7-CT; seta 3-CT and usually seta 1-CT are long and very stout; seta 1-Pa is usually present and at least 0.3 length of the paddle. See genus Armigeres.
The phylogenetic studies of Reinert et al. (2004, 2009) based on cladistics analyses of morphological data strongly support the sister relationship of subgenus Armigeres with subgenus Leicesteria. Five species of the subgenus (Ar. durhami, Ar. kesseli, Ar. malayi, Ar. obturbans and Ar. subalbatus) were recovered in a derived position relative to Ar. flavus of subgenus Leicesteria in the maximum likelihood phylogeny of Soghigian et al. (2017) based on seven molecular markers.
Females of subgenus Armigeres lay their eggs singly (Macdonald & Traub, 1960; Steffan, 1968). The eggs resist drying to some extent. The larvae generally inhabit containers, including tree holes, log holes, bamboo stumps, sago palm and banana stumps, flower bracts, fallen coconut, cacao and other fruit shells, Nepenthes pitchers and artificial containers, but are often found in small collections of surface water, e.g. ground pools, rock pools, drains and septic tanks. The water is generally either very foul or has a high organic content. Larvae of subgenus Armigeres are in some cases carnivorous. Adults are usually active in the daytime in heavily shaded areas. Females of a number of species readily attack and viciously bite humans.
Females of Ar. subalbatus are suspected of transmitting Wuchereria bancrofti. Mackerras (1946) investigated the vector potential of Ar. breinli and Ar. milnensis for transmitting dengue fever virus. Results were negative for these two species; however, sufficient data were not obtained for Ar. milnensis nor possibly for Ar. breinli to exonerate them conclusively as vectors of this virus. They should be considered potential vectors of this and other arboviruses.
Species of subgenus Armigeres occur in the Oriental, Palaearctic and Australasian Regions. The subgenus is represented in the Palaearctic Region (China, Korea and Japan) by Ar. subalbatus.
Barraud, 1934 (southern Asia); Thurman, 1959 (Thailand); Delfinado, 1966 (Philippines); Steffan, 1968 (Papuan Subregion of Australasian Region); Tanaka et al., 1979 (Japan); Lee et al., 1988 (Australasian Region); Darsie & Pradhan, 1990 (Nepal); Lu Baolin et al. 1997 (China); Darsie, 2000 (pupae); Reinert et al., 2004, 2009 (phylogeny); Rattanarithikul et al., 2010 (Thailand, keys, bionomics); Soghigian et al., 2017 (phylogenetic relationships).
alkatirii Toma, Miyagi & Syafruddin, 1995 apoensis Bohart & Farner, 1944 aureolineatus (Leicester, 1908) azurini Basio, 1971 baisasi Stone & Thurman, 1958 bhayungi Thurman & Thurman, 1958 breinli (Taylor,1914) candelabrifer Brug, 1939 confusus Edwards, 1915 conjungens Edwards, 1914 denbesteni Brug, 1925 durhami Edwards, 1917 ejercitoi Baisas, 1935 fimbriatus Edwards, 1930 foliatus Brug, 1931 giveni Edwards, 1926 hybridus Edwards, 1914 joloensis (Ludlow,1904) jugraensis (Leicester, 1908) kesseli Ramalingam,1987 kinabaluensis Ramalingam, 1972 kuchingensis Edwards, 1915 lacuum Edwards, 1922 laoensis Toma & Miyagi, 2003 mahantai Bhattacharyya,Prakash, Mohapatra & Sarma, 2009 maiae Edwards, 1917 malayi (Theobald, 1901) manalangi Baisas, 1935 maximus Edwards, 1922 milnensis Lee, 1944 moultoni Edwards, 1914 obturbans (Walker,1859) pallithorax Dong, Zhou & Dong, 2004 papuensis Peters, 1963 sembeli Toma & Miyagi, 2002 setifer Delfinado, 1966 seticoxitus Luh & Li, 1981 subalbatus (Coquillett, 1898) subspecies chrysocorporis Hsieh & Liao, 1956 subspecies subalbatus (Coquillett, 1898) theobaldi Barraud, 1934 yunnanensis Dong, Zhou & Dong, 1995
