Genus Aedeomyia Theobald, 1901
Aedeomyia squamipennis (Lynch Arribálzaga, 1878), original combination: Aedes squamipennis.
Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Aedeomyiini. Aedeomyia is the only genus of tribe Aedeomyiini. It includes seven species in two subgenera: Aedeomyia (six species) and Lepiothauma (one species). Genus abbreviation – Ad.
The adults of Aedeomyia are small, scaly mosquitoes of very similar appearance. They are generally easily recognised by a combination of characters. All antennal flagellomeres of females and the apical two flagellomeres of males are unusually short and thick, the clypeus bears a patch of scales, prespiracular and postspiracular setae are absent, lower mesepimeral setae are present, the wings are densely covered with broad yellow, white and brown scales, and the mid- and hindfemora have large apical scale-tufts. Larvae are distinctive. The antennae are greatly swollen, strongly curved and longer than the head. They possess strongly developed setae which give them a 'hairy' appearance, the lateral thoracic setae are remarkably long, the siphon is uniformly pubescent and lacks a pecten, and the spiracular apparatus bears a pair of large hook-like setae (seta 9-S). The comb of segment VIII consists of a single row of scales on a small sclerotised plate. See Aedeomyiini.
The phylogenetic origins of Aedeomyia are uncertain (Reidenbach et al., 2009) and evolutionary relationships within the genus have not been investigated.
Aedeomyia larvae are found primarily in dense swamps and ground pools with abundant aquatic vegetation, but they have also been collected from river margins. They are known to stay submerged for long periods of time, and are suspected of being capable of cuticular respiration through their greatly enlarged antennae. Females of Aedeomyia apparently feed predominantly on birds. Aedeomyia africana have been collected from human bait stationed on platforms in forest canopy, but members of the genus normally are not attracted to humans.
A few arboviruses and avian malarial protozoa have been isolated from species of Aedeomyia, but none of the species are considered to be of importance to humans.
Aedeomyia is a pantropic genus. Four species of the genus are Afrotropical, one is Australasian, one is Neotropical and one occurs in the Oriental and Australasian Regions.
Lane, 1953 (Neotropical Region); Belkin, 1962 (taxonomy, South Pacific); Tyson, 1970 (revision); da Cunha Ramos & Ribeiro, 1975 (larvae); Lee et al., 1982 (Australasian Region); Service, 1990 (Afrotropical Region); Rattanarithikul et al., 2006 (Thailand, keys); Brunhes et al., 2011 (taxonomy).
Aedeomyia (see).
Lepiothauma (see).