Subgenus Lophoceraomyia Theobald, 1905

Type species: 

Culex uniformis (Theobald, 1905), original combination: Lophoceraomyia uniformis.

Classification: 

Subfamily Culicinae, genus Culex. Subgenus Lophoceraomyia includes 113 species. See Culex classification, Subgenus Lophoceraomyia). Subgenus abbreviation – Lop.

Characteristics: 

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 MALE GENITALIA – Small and inconspicuous, withdrawn into segment VIII; ninth tergal lobes poorly defined, widely separated, with 3–5 setae; gonocoxite small, without scales; subapical lobe prominent, not clearly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, 12 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.

Phylogenetic relationships: 

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))).

Bionomics and disease relations: 

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.

Distribution: 

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.

Principal references: 

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).

Species: 
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

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith