- Culicidae » Culicinae » Sabethini
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- Representative species shown here:
- Malaya jacobsoni
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Genus-specific Diagnostic Characters, Adult Stage
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Name-bearing Type
- 1908:258 [pdf not available]
- Type Species: Malaya genurostris
Classification
- Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Sabethini. Malaya is a small genus of only 12 species.
Distribution
- Species of Malaya occur in central Africa, through most of the Oriental Region and into Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, China and the Ryukyu Archipelago.
Phylogeny
- Malaya was recovered as the sister of Topomyia in the cladistic analyses of morphological data conducted by Judd (1996), Harbach & Kitching (1998) and Harbach & Peyton (2000), but was paired with genus Limatus when genus Kimia, which was established for species previously placed in Topomyia, was included in the data set of the last authors. Phylogenetic relationships among the species of Malaya have not been studied.
Characteristics
- Adults of Malaya are unique in having a “hairy”, bent, apically swollen proboscis that is folded beneath the body when at rest. They are otherwise similar to the adults of Kimia and Topomyia, both have a conspicuous median longitudinal white or silver stripe on the scutum and lack setae on the upper calypter, which distinguish them from other Old World sabethines (Maorigoeldia and Tripteroides). In the areas where Malaya species occur, the larvae are distinguished from non-sabethine genera by the presence of a single pair of seta 4-X. Malaya differ from Kimia and Tripteroides in having a slit-like occipital foramen and comb scales in two or more rows. The larvae of Malaya closely resemble Kimia and Topomyia but are distinct in having the maxillary palpus fused with the maxillary body and seta 4-X single rather than branched. See Sabethini.
Bionomics
- Larvae occupy cavities, including the leaf axils of plants, tree holes and the water-filled nests of arboreal ants. Adults are active during the daytime. Their feeding habits are unique among mosquitoes. They feed on the regurgitation of ants. To accomplish this, the mosquito accosts an ant and brings the tip of its proboscis into contract with the mouth of the ant until a drop of liquid is produced. The regurgitated liquid is rapidly sucked up and the ant goes away unharmed.
Medical
- Malaya are incapable of taking a blood meal, hence they are not of medical of economic importance.
Important References
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Included Taxa
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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. |