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Name-bearing Type

• Williston
• 1896:271
• Type Species: Haemagogus splendens Williston, 1896. [Lutz (1904) introduced subfamily Haemagoginae for this genus.]

Classification

• Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Aedini. Haemagogus includes 28 species divided between two subgenera, Conopostegus (four species) and Haemagogus (24 species).

Distribution

• Haemagogus species are distributed from Argentina through Central America and into North America as far as the southern tip of Texas, but they are most abundant in the forests in the central region of South America.
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Phylogeny

• [Not yet available]

Characteristics

• Haemagogus are brightly coloured mosquitoes that resemble sabethines. The scutum is covered with smooth metallic scales in almost all species, and the acrostichal setae, dorsocentral setae and prescutellar setae are absent centrally. The antepronota are large and close together. The adults are distinguished from sabethines by the position of the hindcoxa below the base of the mesomeron and the absence of prespiracular setae. They are usually distinguished from other New World aedines without much difficulty by the character of the scutal scaling and the presence of silver scales in a single broad vertical band (subgenus Haemagogus) or three vertical arcs (subgenus Conopostegus) extending from the scutum to the coxae. Larvae are separated from those of other genera in the New World, except some other Aedini, based on one or more of the following characters: maxillary brush present; hypostomal suture complete; occipital foramen circular, with distinct collar; comb and pecten both present; seta 5-VIII inserted well below dorsal margin of segment X; siphon unmodified, with a single pair of seta 1-S inserted distal to pecten; ventral brush (seta 4-X) with five or six pairs of setae. The larvae are distinguishable with some difficulty from similar species of other aedine genera by the combination of (1) setae 5-7-P borne on small separate tubercles, (2) seta 12-I present and/or seta 7-III-V much larger than seta 9 on the same segment, (3) seta 3-VII very long and usually single (similar to sabethines) and (4) saddle incomplete. See Aedini.

Bionomics

• The larvae of all Haemagogus species live in cavities. They are found mainly in tree-holes and bamboo, but are often found in the axils of bromeliads, fallen fruit husks, and occasionally in ground pools, rock-holes and artificial containers in urban areas. Haemagogus adults are active during the daylight hours. They inhabit primary and secondary tropical forests, open deciduous forests and mangroves. Species that inhabit primary forest are largely arboreal and feed primarily in the forest canopy. Many species readily attack humans in forest clearings, open secondary growth and littoral situations associated with mangroves.

Medical

• Several species, including Hg. janthinomys, Hg. equinus, Hg. lucifer, Hg. leucocelaenus, Hg. mesodentatus, Hg. spegazzinii and Hg. capricornii are vectors of sylvatic yellow fever virus. Ilheus virus has been isolated from Hg. janthinomys and Hg. spegazzinii in Panama and from Hg. leucocelaenus in Brazil.

Important References

Lane, 1953 (Neotropical Region) Forattini, 1965b (Neotropical Region) Cova-García et al., 1966 (Venezuela) Belkin et al., 1970 (Jamaica)

Arnell, 1973 (generic revision) Clark-Gil & Darsie, 1983 (Guatemala) Darsie, 1985 (keys, Argentina) Reinert et al., 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 (phylogeny)

Included Taxa

Subgenus CONOPOSTEGUS Dyar, 1925 clarki (Galindo, Carpenter & Trapido, 1953) leucocelaenus (Dyar & Shannon, 1924) leucophoebus (Galindo, Carpenter & Trapido, 1953) leucotaeniatus (Komp, 1938)   Subgenus HAEMAGOGUS Williston, 1896 acutisentis Arnell, 1973 aeritinctus Galindo & Trapido, 1967 albomaculatus Theobald, 1903 anastasionis Dyar, 1921 andinus Osorno-Mesa, 1944 argyromeris Dyar & Ludlow, 1921 baresi Cerqueira, 1960 boshelli Osorno-Mesa, 1944 capricornii Lutz, 1904

Subgenus HAEMAGOGUS cont., celeste Dyar & Nuñez Tovar, 1927 chalcospilans Dyar, 1921 chrysochlorus Arnell, 1973 equinus Theobald, 1903 iridicolor Dyar, 1921 janthinomys Dyar, 1921 lucifer (Howard, Dyar & Knab, 1913) mesodentatus Komp & Kumm, 1938 nebulosus Arnell, 1973 panarchys Dyar, 1921 regalis Dyar & Knab, 1906 soperi Levi-Castillo, 1955 spegazzinii Bréthes, 1912 splendens Williston, 1896 tropicalis Cerqueira & Antunes, 1938

The materials presented in the Classification, Distribution, Phylogeny, Characteristics, Medical, and Important References sections, and links to subgenera, are reproduced with permission of Mosquito Taxonomic Inventory, moderated by Ralph Harbach on behalf of the contributors who retain copyright. For additional information on reuse parameters, please contact Mosquito Taxonomic Inventory. Images and maps, unless otherwise attributed, and links to the literature are provided by the WRBU.