Culex uniformis (Theobald, 1905), original combination: Lophoceraomyia uniformis.
Subfamily Culicinae, genus Culex. Subgenus Lophoceraomyia includes 113 species. See Culex classification, Subgenus Lophoceraomyia). Subgenus abbreviation – Lop.
ADULTS – Small to medium-sized mosquitoes; vertex usually with more or less distinct orbital line of broad decumbent scales; eyes contiguous above antennae; frontal tuft not developed; antenna distinctly longer than (females) or about as long (males) as proboscis, pedicel without distinct scales; pedicel of males with or without blunt prominence on mesal side, flagellum of males with specialised tufts of scales and setae on flagellomeres 5–9 or 10, sometimes restricted to flagellomeres 7 and 8, rarely entirely absent; proboscis, maxillary palpus, wing and tarsi dark-scaled; proboscis very slender, particularly at base; proboscis of males with or without false joint, dorsal surface with or without double row of setae, ventral surface usually with a few rows of short setae, sometimes with a group of long setae at mid-length; maxillary palpus of females with 3 palpomeres; palpus of males with 5 palpomeres, variable in length, usually slightly longer than proboscis, sometimes reduced to 0.5 of proboscis length, palpomere 1 with or without 2 pairs of finger-like slender processes on lateral and ventral surfaces, palpomere 3 with 1 or 2 ventral rows of short setae, palpomeres 4 and 5 with few to numerous setae; acrostichal setae usually absent, rarely present; scutal scales sparse, narrow and dark; pleural scaling practically absent, sometimes a few scales on postpronotum and along mesokatepisternal setae, lower mesepimeral seta usually present; wing cell R2 longer than vein R2+3; ungues of females small, equal and simple; fore- and midungues enlarged in males, with basal denticles; pulvilli well developed; abdominal terga dark-scaled or with basolateral pale spots or basal pale bands. MALE GENITALIA – Small and inconspicuous, withdrawn into segment VIII; ninth tergal lobes poorly defined, widely separated, with 3–5 setae; gonocoxite small, without scales; subapical lobe prominent, not clearly divided, setae densely packed but proximal and distal groups discernible, proximal group usually with 3 rod-like setae (a-c), distal group with mesal subgroup usually comprised of a foliform seta and 4–6 variously developed setae (d-f) and a lateral subgroup with 1 foliform seta (g?) and an accessory seta (h); gonostylus relatively simple; gonostylar claw small, subapical; phallosome simple, broad and bulbous at base in dorsal aspect and with a rather broad basal tergal bridge, lateral plate varied in development, with strong sternal process and with or without a smaller tergal process; paraproct with crown comprised of variable number of small to large spicules, basal sternal process absent; cercal setae present. LARVAE - Head usually broader than long; ocular bulge usually prominent; antenna shorter than head, seta 1-A distinctly beyond middle, setae 2,3-A usually removed from apex; seta 1-C moderately thickened, with or without lateral spicules; seta 2-C absent; seta 3-P much shorter than 1,2-P; seta 7-I large, developed similar to seta 6-I, seta 7-II usually small and developed like seta 7-III–VI, sometimes developed like seta 7-I; comb comprised of numerous fringed scales in patch; siphon usually long and slender; pecten well developed, spines evenly fringed or spiculate on ventral margin; seta 1-S with 3–8 pairs of weak elements distad of pecten; saddle complete, without acus, caudolateral margin lightly to strongly spiculate; seta 1-X usually short and weak; seta 2-X with strong primary stem and l–4 weaker basal branches; ventral brush (seta 4-X) with 5 or 6 pairs of setae on grid. PUPAE – Trumpet usually long and narrow, pinna small, with or without slit extending to meatus; seta 5-IV–VI strong, 1–2 times as long as following tergum; seta 9-VIII well removed cephalad from caudolateral angle; paddle large, generally ovoid, outer margin smooth or minutely spiculate basally; seta 1-Pa and seta 2-Pa usually present, minute. See genus Culex.
Belkin (1962) noted that Lophoceraomyia bears similarities to Culiciomyia, Eumelanomyia (as Mochthogenes) and Neoculex. The results of the phylogenetic study by St John (2007) based on morphological data indicated that Lophoceraomyia is closer to Culiciomyia and Eumelanomyia than to Neoculex. Sirivanakarn (1971, 1972) stated that Lophoceraomyia exhibits the strongest affinity with Eumelanomyia. In the phylogenetic analyses of Harbach et al. (2012) also based on morphological data, Lophoceraomyia was placed in a clade with species of subgenera Acalleomyia, Culiciomyia and Eumelanomyia, related as Eumelanomyia + (Lophoceraomyia + (Acalleomyia + Culiciomyia))).
The immature stages have been found in ground pools (swamps, streams and temporary pools), tree holes, bamboo stumps, crab holes, rock holes, pitcher plants, palm bracts, sago stumps and leaf axils of aroids, sago palms and Pandanus, and artificial containers. Very little is known about the bionomics of the adults. Females probably feed principally on birds, but may also feed on amphibians, reptiles and mammals. They apparently will attack humans in forest.
Lophoceraomyia seldom attack mammals and are unlikely to play a role in the transmission of pathogens to humans or domestic animals. However, based on the isolation of a number of arboviruses from Lophoceraomyia species in Malaysia and northern Australia, members of the genus probably play a role in the maintenance of viruses in sylvatic cycles.
Lophoceraomyia is largely confined to tropical and subtropical areas and islands of the Oriental and Australasian Regions, with a small extension into southeastern areas (China, Japan and Korea) of the Palaearctic Region.
Belkin, 1962 (South Pacific, keys, taxonomy, bionomics, distributions); Bram, 1967 (Thailand, keys, taxonomy, bionomics, distributions); Sirivanakarn, 1968 (New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago, subgenus and species descriptions, classification, keys, bionomics, distributions), 1977 (revision; subgenus, groups and species descriptions; keys, bionomics, distributions); Lee et al., 1989 (Australasian Region, keys, literature, distributions, bionomics).
aculeatus Colless, 1965 acutipalus Colless, 1965 aestivus Sirivanakarn, 1977 alorensis Sirivanakarn, 1977 alphus Colless, 1965 atracus Colless, 1960 bandoengensis Brug, 1939 becki Belkin, 1962 bengalensis Barraud, 1934 bergi Belkin, 1962 bicornutus (Theobald, 1910) bolii Sirivanakarn, 1968 brevipalpus (Theobald, 1905) buxtoni Edwards, 1926 carolinensis Bohart & Ingram, 1946 castaneus Sirivanakarn, 1973 christiani Colless, 1960 cinctellus Edwards, 1922 coerulescens Edwards, 1928 collessi Sirivanakarn, 1968 cottlei Sirivanakarn, 1968 crassicomus Colless, 1965 crowei Sirivanakarn, 1968 cubiculi Marks, 1989 (in Lee et al., 1989) cubitatus Colless, 1965 curtipalpis (Edwards, 1914) cylindricus Theobald, 1903 demissus Colless, 1965 digoelensis Brug, 1932 durhami Sirivanakarn, 1968 eminentia (Leicester, 1908) eukrines Bram & Rattanarithikul, 1967 flavicornis Barraud, 1924 fraudatrix (Theobald, 1905) fulleri (Ludlow, 1909) gagnei Evenhuis, 1989 (in Evenhuis & Gon, 1989) ganapathi Colless, 1965 gibbulus Delfinado, 1966 gossi Bohart, 1957 gracicornis Sirivanakarn, 1977 gressitti Sirivanakarn, 1968 hewitti (Edwards, 1914) hilli Edwards, 1922 hirtipalpis Sirivanakarn, 1977 hurlbuti Belkin, 1962 imposter Sirivanakarn, 1977 incomptus Bram & Rattanarithikul, 1967 inculus Colless, 1965 infantulus Edwards, 1922 insequens Marks, 1989 (in Lee et al., 1989) insularis Sirivanakarn, 1968 jenseni (de Meijere, 1910) josephineae Baisas, 1935 kaviengensis Sirivanakarn, 1968 kowiroensis Sirivanakarn, 1968 kuhnsi King & Hoogstraal, 1955 kusaiensis Bohart, 1957 laffooni Belkin, 1962 lairdi Belkin, 1962 lakei Sirivanakarn, 1968 lasiopalpis Sirivanakarn, 1977 lavatae Stone & Bohart, 1944 leei King & Hoogstraal, 1955 lucaris Colless, 1965 macdonaldi Colless, 1965 mammilifer (Leicester, 1908) marksae King & Hoogstraal, 1955 minjensis Sirivanakarn, 1968 minor (Leicester, 1908) minutissimus (Theobald, 1907) muruae Sirivanakarn, 1968 navalis Edwards, 1926 niger (Leicester, 1908) orbostiensis Dobrotworsky, 1958 oweni Belkin, 1962 pairoji Sirivanakarn, 1977 paraculeatus Sirivanakarn, 1977 perryi Belkin, 1962 petersi Colless, 1960 peytoni Bram & Rattanarithikul, 1967 pholeter Bram & Rattanarithikul, 1967 pilifemoralis Wang & Feng, 1964 pseudornatus Colless, 1960 pseudorubithoracis Sirivanakarn, 1968 quadripalpis (Edwards, 1914) raghavanii Rahman, Chowdhury & Kalra, 1969 rajaneeae Sirivanakarn, 1968 reidi Colless, 1965 rubithoracis (Leicester, 1908) sangenluoensis Wang, 1984 schilfgaardei Sirivanakarn, 1968 sedlacekae Sirivanakarn, 1968 seniori Barraud, 1934 shanahani Sirivanakarn, 1968 singhbhumensis Natarajan & Rajavel, 2009 singuawaensis Sirivanakarn, 1969 solomonis Edwards, 1929 (in Paine & Edwards, 1929) spiculosus Bram & Rattanarithikul, 1967 steffani Sirivanakarn, 1968 submarginalis Sirivanakarn, 1973 sumatranus Brug, 1931 szemaonensis Wang & Feng, 1964 traubi Colless, 1965 tuberis Bohart, 1946 uniformis (Theobald, 1905) variatus (Leicester, 1908) versabilis Sirivanakarn, 1968 walukasi Belkin, 1962 wamanguae Sirivanakarn, 1968 wardi Sirivanakarn, 1977 whartoni Colless, 1965 wilfredi Colless, 1965 winkleri Belkin, 1962