Genus Topomyia Leicester, 1908
Topomyia minor Leicester, 1908.
Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Sabethini. Topomyia includes 69 species: two species are not placed in a subgenus (Rattanarithikul et al., 2007; Harbach & Culverwell, 2014); the other species are divided between three subgenera, Miyagiella (1 species), Suaymyia (21 species) and Topomyia (45 species). Genus abbreviation – To.
Topomyia are relatively small, attractive mosquitoes with a median longitudinal stripe of broad white or silver (occasionally brownish) scales on the scutum. This character, along with the absence of setae or hair-like scales on the upper calypter and termination of the anal vein before or slightly beyond the base of the mediocubital crossvein, distinguishes the adults from the adults of all other Old World genera except Kimia and Malaya. Despite the overall similarity, the unmodified proboscis of Topomyia could never be confused with the setose, bent and apically swollen proboscis of Malaya. In the areas where Topomyia occur, the larvae are distinguished from the larvae of all other genera based on the following characters: presence of a single pair of seta 4-X (distinction from non-sabethine genera); presence of a slit-like occipital foramen and absence of seta 13-P (distinctions from Tripteroides); presence of seta 8-M and seta 13-T removed from the plate bearing setae 9-12-T (distinctions from Kimia); maxillary palpus freely attached to the maxillary body and seta 4-X branched rather than single (distinctions from Malaya). See Sabethini.
Topomyia formed a sister-group relationship with Malaya in the phylogenetic analyses of Judd (1996), Harbach & Kitching (1998) and Harbach & Peyton (2000) based on morphological data. It was placed as the sister of Limatus when genus Kimia was distinguished from Topomyia by Harbach et al. (2007) and included in the data set of Harbach & Peyton (2000). The internal phylogeny of the genus has not been investigated.
Little is known about the bionomics of species of Topomyia. The species are associated with forests. The immature stages have been found in leaf axils (e.g. Allocasia, Ananas, Colocasia, Cordyline, Crinum, Curcuma, Donax, Heliconia, Homalomena, Hymenocollis, Nipa, Pandanus, Phrynium, taro and wild banana), inflorescences (such as Cystandra, Rafflesia and Zingiberaceae), Nepenthes pitcher plants, bamboo internodes and stumps, and tree holes (rarely). The larvae of at least some species are predaceous, with well-developed maxillae. Miyagi & Toma (2010) noted that most species of subgenus Suaymyia are browsers and predators that normally occur individually in bamboo internodes, bamboo stumps or leaf axils of various plants; and that most species of subgenus Topomyia are not predacious and occur in leaf axils with many larvae of the same or different species. The feeding habits of the adults are unknown. Females do not feed on humans. Adults have been collected resting on tree trunks in deeply shaded forest.
No species of Topomyia appear to be of medical or economic importance to humans.
Topomyia occurs in the Oriental Region, with extensions into the southern Palaearctic (Ryukyu Archipelago) and the Australasian Region (Sulawesi, Maluku Islands, Biak Island and New Guinea).
Thurman, 1959 (Thailand, genus, subgenus and species descriptions, keys, bionomics); Tanaka et al., 1979 (Japan, genus and To. yanbarensis descriptions, distributions, bionomics); Lee et al., 1988 (Australasian Region, taxonomy, literature, bionomics, distributions); Harbach & Peyton, 1993 (comparative morphology of larval maxillae); Harbach et al., 2007 (comparative morphology, phylogenetic relationships); Rattanarithikul et al., 2007 (Thailand, description, classification, bionomics, keys); Harbach & Culverwell, 2014 (subgenus Miyagiella, subgenus and species description, comparative morphology, bionomics, distribution).
Miyagiella (see).
Suaymyia (see).
Topomyia (see).
spathulirostris Edwards, 1923
yanbarensis Miyagi, 1976
