Culex (Culiciomyia) apicopilosus Cornel & Mayi & Kowo & Foncha & Andongma & Anong & Elad & Djomo & Tchuinkam & Brisco & Sehgal 2020, sp. n.
Creators: name: Cornel, Anthony John
name: Mayi, Marie Paul Audrey
name: Kowo, Cyril
name: Foncha, David
name: Andongma, Esack
name: Anong, Damian Nota
name: Elad, Mirabel
name: Djomo, Charlene
name: Tchuinkam, Timoleon
name: Brisco, Katherine K.
name: Sehgal, Ravinder
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Culicidae
Culex
Culex apicopilosus

description: Culex (Culiciomyia) apicopilosus Cornel & Mayi, sp. n.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 2F775342-D4DA-46D0-8048-A3A827AC7A08
Male. Wing 3.40 mm. Proboscis 2.20 mm. Forefemur 1.80 mm. Thoracic pleura generally with grey dusted appearance typical of most other Afrotropical Culiciomyia (Fig. 4A).
Head: Decumbent scales of vertex narrow and white to translucent, except for broader white scales along eye margin and on sides of head (Fig. 4D). Erect forked scales quite numerous and dark brown, those in middle of vertex with slightly lighter coloured tips. Maxillary palpus slightly longer than proboscis, palpomeres 4 and 5 bearing setae (Fig. 4B), palpomere 4 0.4 length of palpomere 5; palpal comb of palpomere 3 (Fig. 4B,C) consists of translucent scales: proximal 6 scales all longer than distal 10–12 scales, scales of proximal set or group lanceolate, variable in length, those more apically positioned slightly shorter than more basal scales, distal 10–12 scales closer together with rounded (spatulate or oblanceolate) pre-apices and minute short folded points (recurved aristate apices), no obvious gap between proximal and distal sets of scales.Antenna slightly shorter than proboscis, apical flagellomeres covered with short setae except for whorl of 7 or 8 long setae at base of terminal flagellomere, all flagellomeres, except distal 2, with apical 0.50 white and proximal 0.50 brown. Proboscis entirely dark-scaled.
Thorax: Scutal integument greyish brown (Fig. 4D), covered with short brown setae, scales at front and on prescutellar area slightly paler; scales on scutellum dirty white. Pleural integument uniformly greyish brown (Fig. 4A), pleura with scales and setae on following regions (Fig. 4E): antepronotum, postpronotum (row of 6 on posterior margin), proepisternum, prealar knob, row of whitish to translucent scales extending from upper mesokatepisternal patch down posterior margin to lower 0.67 and a single lower mesepimeral seta.
Wing: Scales all dark.
Legs: Fore- and midfemora pale underneath, dark above, anteriorly and posteriorly; hindfemur pale underneath (ventral view) almost to apex, basal 0.5 of anterior, posterior and dorsal surfaces pale, apical 0.5 of dorsal and posterior surfaces dark, anterior pale area gradually narrows beyond halfway towards apex and ends about 0.25 before dark apex (Fig. 9D); tibiae and tarsi of all legs dark-scaled.
Abdomen: Terga uniformly brown with slightly paler small basal lateral spots; sterna uniformly light brownish to grey.
Genitalia: Tergum IX lobes each with an irregular row of 12 setae. Gonocoxite with few setae on lateral, ventral and dorsal margins longer than gonocoxite (Fig. 5A); ventral side with a dense lateral patch of 10 rows of setae, about 7 setae in each row obscure and make setae of subapical lobe difficult to see, especially when viewed ventrally (Fig. 5B); subapical lobe prominent, weakly divided, small lobe below setae a–c with one seta and larger lobe above bears setae a–c, a hair-like setae (e), 4 setae bent and barbed distally (d 1 –d 4), a broad foliform (leaf-like) seta (g) and a smaller foliform seta (f) (Fig. 5A,B), base of seta c slightly separate from bases of setae a and b, seta b often appears darker than a and c, all 3 with hooked apices; seta e as long as setae a–c and with slightly striated appearance; setae d 1 –d 4 each with very delicate expanded lightly sclerotized ends with 3 or 4 barbs (Fig. 5A,B), expanded apical ends of d 3 and d 4 larger than those of d 1 and d 2; seta f about 0.67 width of seta g; ventral patch of 8–10 setae at apex of gonocoxite just below base of gonostylus. Gonostylus with a row of about 12–14 “spinelets” distal to a dorsal crest (Fig. 5A,C), an upturned small hook at proximal end of crest; 3–5 setae on gonostylus where it bends at base of crest and 2 subapical setae near distal end of row of “spinelets” (Fig. 5A,C); apex of gonostylus upturned and hook-like (Fig. 5A). Aedeagus with expanded base, with a single basal tooth and arms (lateral plates) that are more or less straight with rounded to pointed apices, depending on angle of observation (Fig. 5D), each arm with a row of small tubercles along inner margin that almost reach apex. Paraproct with 4 subapical cercal setae; no obvious sternal process.
Additional notes: The legs of all Afrotropical Culiciomyia, except for Cx. cambournaci, are similar in colouration with no reliable differences (Figs 9D, 16E, 31C). Culex apicopilosus closely resembles Cx. nebulosus and Cx. lanzaroi. The structure of the aedeagus is identical in these species. In all three species, the tips of the lateral plates can appear round or pointed depending on the angle of observation. Culex apicopilosus differs from both Cx. lanzaroi and Cx. nebulosus by the presence of an apical patch of 8–10 setae on the gonocoxite (Figs 5A, 6A). Culex nebulosus and Cx. lanzaroi lack this patch and instead have 1–4 setae (Fig. 6B) that are positioned in a row if more than one seta is present. The subapical lobe of Cx. nebulosus has two distinctly apically barbed setae, Cx. lanzaroi has three and Cx. apicopilosus has four. Culex apicopilosus and Cx. lanzaroi share the unique presence of two broad foliform setae, unlike Cx. nebulosus which has one broad and one much narrower foliform seta. It is noteworthy that one of the foliform setae is smaller in Cx. apicopilosus, whereas in Cx. lanzaroi these setae are almost equally broad. Culex lanzaroi has the smallest membranous dorsal flange (crest) on the gonostylus, Cx. nebulosus has the largest and that of Cx. apicopilosus is of an intermediate size. The two males used to describe Cx. apicopilosus have more numerous (11 or 12) distal palpal comb scales compared to males of Cx. nebulosus, which have 8 or 9 palpal comb scales, and those of Cx. lanzaroi which have 6 or 7. Furthermore, there is an obvious gap separating the differently shaped proximal and distal sets of scales in Cx. nebulosus and Cx. lanzaroi, whereas there is no gap in Cx. apicopilosus.
Etymology: This species is named apicopilosus in reference to the group or patch of setae occurring at the apex of the gonocoxite.
Type series. Holotype male (BMEC type # 1919) collected resting in forest vegetation in CAMEROON, South- West Region, Nguti Subdivision, Talangaye Forest (5.190397º N; 9.3457790º E), with the following label: Talangaye forest, SE Region, Cameroon, forest floor sweep net, Date of collection 16/vii/2017, Acc. # CAM202 hc 16/vii/2017, Adult ♂, gen and palp mounted, Coll and Det. A. J. Cornel. Paratype male collected on a different date to holotype otherwise with same data except for different Acc. # CAM 202 rb 12/vii/2017, Acc. # is equivalent to the collection number. Slide mounts of genitalia and maxillary palpi of both types have the same label as the corresponding pinned specimen. The holotype and paratype are deposited in the Bohart Museum, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
description: Published as part of Cornel, Anthony John, Mayi, Marie Paul Audrey, Kowo, Cyril, Foncha, David, Andongma, Esack, Anong, Damian Nota, Elad, Mirabel, Djomo, Charlene, Tchuinkam, Timoleon, Brisco, Katherine K. & Sehgal, Ravinder, 2020, New species of Culex (Culiciomyia) (Diptera: Culicidae) from Talangaye Forest in Cameroon and descriptions and identification keys for males of the Afrotropical species of the subgenus, pp. 451-506 in Zootaxa 4858 (4) on pages 457-460, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4858.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4412583