Genus Hodgesia Theobald, 1904
Hodgesia sanguinae Theobald, 1904.
Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Hodgesiini. Hodgesia, with 11 species, is the only genus of tribe Hodgesiini. Genus abbreviation – Ho.
Hodgesia are very small mosquitoes that are unique in having the dorsal scales on the distal half of the wing elongate and forked at the tip. Larvae are similar to Culiseta and Ficalbia in having seta 1-S attached near the base of the siphon. They are distinguished from Culiseta in having seta 5-VIII inserted near the dorsal margin of segment X, and differ from Ficalbia in having the cardo fused with the maxillary palpus and the hypostomal suture complete to the posterior tentorial pit. See Hodgesiini.
Hodgesia appears to be most closely related to Culiseta, Ficalbia and Mimomyia. Hodgesia and Ficalbia were recovered as sister taxa in the phylogenetic analysis of Harbach & Kitching (1998) based on a single synapomorphy, i.e. seta 1-S inserted at the base of the siphon, a characteristic that also occurs in species of Culiseta. Belkin (1962) noted that the adults also bear some similarity with Uranotaenia and hypothesised that Hodgesia may have originated through hybridisation between ancient members of tribes Ficalbiini and Uranotaeniini. Phylogenetic relationships within the genus have not been investigated.
Very little is known about the bionomics of Hodgesia. Larvae are usually found in swamps and marshes in water with very dense vegetation, and often in association with species of Mimomyia. The feeding habits of most species are unknown. Females of Ho. sanguinae in Africa have been reported to attack humans, and females of Ho. solomonis are vicious biters in the vicinity of its larval habitats in the Solomon Islands. Females are so small that they may be mistaken for biting midges (family Ceratopogonidae); hence, it is likely that other species that may feed on humans have not been recognised.
A few species of Hodgesia bite humans, but none are medically important.
Species of Hodgesia occur in the Old World tropics: four are found in Africa, two in the Oriental Region, three in the Australasian Region and two that occur in both the Oriental and Australasian Regions.
Barraud, 1934 (southern Asia); Edwards, 1941 (Afrotropical Region, adults); Hopkins, 1952 (Afrotropical Region, larvae); Thurman, 1959 (Thailand); Belkin, 1962 (South Pacific, taxonomy); Lee et al., 1988 (Australasian Region); Service, 1990 (Afrotropical Region); Lu Baolin et al., 1997 (China); Rattanarithikul et al., 2006 (Thailand, keys).
bailyi Barraud, 1929
cairnsensis Taylor, 1919
cyptopus Theobald, 1909
lampangensis Thurman, 1959
malayi Leicester, 1908
nigeriae Edwards, 1930
psectropus Edwards, 1930
quasisanguinae Leicester, 1908
sanguinae Theobald, 1904
solomonis Belkin, 1962
spoliata Edwards, 1923
