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Name-bearing Type

• Coquillett
• 1906c:16,24
• Type Species: Culex perturbans Williston

Classification

• Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Sabethini. Isostomyia includes only four species.

Distribution

• Species of Isostomyia are only known to occur in the Neotropical Region.
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Phylogeny

• Isostomyia shares close affinities with other New World genera of tribe Sabethini. It was recovered in a sister-group relationship with Runchomyia (Ctenogoeldia) in the cladistic analysis of Judd (1996) and as the sister of Shannoniana in the cladistic analyses of Harbach & Kitching (1998), Harbach & Peyton (2000) and Harbach et al. (2007a). The phylogenetic relationships of the species of Isostomyia are unknown.

Characteristics

• The adults of Isostomyia are distinguished from other members of tribe Sabethini in the New World by the following combination of characters: dorsal head scales with weak to moderate green or blue reflections, proboscis distinctly longer than forefemur, scutal scales moderately broad to broad and flat, postpronotum without posterior setae, lower mesokatepisternal setae usually not extended above lower edge of mesepimeron and all tarsi completely dark. The larvae of Isostomyia differ from those of Johnbelkinia, Onirion, Shannoniana, Trichoprosopon and some Wyeomyia in having a transverse slit-like occipital foramen and a filamentous pecten on the siphon. They are distinguished from other New World sabethines by the presence of a maxillary claw. They also differ from otherwise very similar larvae of genus Runchomyia in having seta 3-X branched, and seta 6-S strongly developed, rigid and hooked at the tip. See Sabethini.

Bionomics

• What little is known about the bionomics of Isostomyia is based on collections of Is. espini. The larvae of this species are found in the leaf axils of terrestrial plants (aroids). The adults are known to enter houses and to bite humans outdoors in domestic areas.

Medical

• The bionomics of Isostomyia is largely unknown, but it is unlikely that the species are involved in the transmission of pathogens to humans.

Important References

Lane, 1953 (see next reference for included species) Zavortink, 1979 (as subgenus of Runchomyia) Harbach & Peyton, 1993 (generic status)

Included Taxa

espini (Martini, 1914) lunata (Theobald, 1901) paranensis (Bréthes, 1910) perturbans (Williston, 1896)

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.