Research on the mosquitoes of Angola - Systematic Catalog of ...

RIBEIRO, H. & RAMOS, H. Cunha -- <strong>Research</strong> on the mosquitoes of Angola -- X
stripe on mid femur. However, reared from the same batch of larvae
(same breeding place), there were also other females and males with
practically all possible gradations, from the absence of even a faint
indication of a stripe to a well-marked one interruped only a little before
the knee spot of the mid leg. As to the foliole on the subapical lobe of
coxite, the mean in 23 Angolan males examined was 48,
with range 37-60. The indices found in 3 of these males exhibiting
striped mid femora were, in fact, of the (45, 45 and 48).
However, indices such as these and even lower were also recorded
in other 10 out of the 23 males examined (37, 38, 38, 39, 41, 45, 46, 47,
47 and 48), all of them whithout a complete stripe and most of them
with no more than a faint indication of it.
The shape of seta f on the subapical lobe of coxite and the extent
of the dark scaling of hind femur expressed as a were
also considered by Jupp as useful characters to separate C. univittatus
from C. neavei. According to our experience, however, this seems not
to be also the case in Angola. In that concerns seta f, it was found to
vary markedly in our sample of 23 Angolan males, from practically non
modified setae (or only very slightly so), in about half the specimens,
to setae with conspicuously swallen tips, in four of the males. However,
no useful correlation could be found between the shape of f and the
leaflet index, the most markedly modified setae belonging to males with
indices ranging from 45 to 54, while poorly modified setae (if at hall)
were found with both the lowest (37) and the highest (60) indices. The
mean fernoral index was 63 (range 48-83) in the 22 Angolan females
examined, and 65 (range 40-94) in the 26 males. According to the
figures found by Jupp for this index and to his taxonomic interpretation
of them, 36 out of the 48 Angolan specimens examined should
be neavei (17 females in 22 and 19 males in 26) arid only one male
(index 94) should be identified as univittatus (s.s.), the remainder specimens
falling into the area of overlap. Again, no reliable correlation was
discernible between fernoral indices and the scaling of mid femora or
the leaflet indices. Namely, none of the 6 specimens with striped mid
femora had femoral indices surely of the (females: 77,
71 and 55; males: 76, 60 and 54), while the only male with index over
92 the upper limit of neavei range, according to Jupp) was pratically
devoided of pale scales on the anterior surface of mid femora. In turn,
males with leaflet indices 48 and less had fernoral indices 40 to 87.
118 Estud., Ens. e Doc.- 134