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Name-bearing Type

• Theobald
• 1903a:304
• Type Species: Mimomyia splendens

Classification

• Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Ficalbiini. Mimomyia, along with genus Ficalbia, belongs to tribe Ficalbiini. Mimomyia includes 45 species divided between three subgenera: Etorleptiomyia (7 species), Ingramia (21 species) and Mimomyia (17 species).

Distribution

• Species of Mimomyia occur in the Australasian, Oriental and Afrotropical Regions. Two species extend into the eastern Palaearctic (Ryukyu Archipelago). Most species of subgenus Ingramia are known only from Madagascar.
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Phylogeny

• The phylogenetic relationships of Mimomyia are uncertain. Morphological data suggest affinities with Ficalbia and Hodgesia (Harbach & Kitching, 1998). Mattingly (1981) suggested that Ficalbia and Mimomyia are more distantly related than their inclusion in the same tribe would suggest, and this notion is supported, although weakly, by the by the pairing of Ficalbia with Hodgesia rather than Mimomyia in the cladistic analyses of Harbach & Kitching (1998). The phylogeny of the subgenera and species has not been investigated.

Characteristics

• Mimomyia are generally small mosquitoes. The adults are rather easily distinguished from other genera, except Ficalbia, by the following combination of characters: first flagellomere of antenna sometimes elongate (one and a half to three times as long as second flagellomere in females of subgenus Mimomyia); head with erect scales on vertex and occiput or restricted to occiput; acrostichal and dorsocentral setae present; prespiracular and postspiracular setae present or absent; upper calypter with a fringe of setae or hair-like scales; alula bare or with broad recumbent scales on dorsal margin (distinction from Ficalbia); anal vein (vein 1A) ends beyond base of mediocubital crossvein; tarsi normal, pulvilli not evident. Larvae of Mimomyia are characterised as follows: distal part of antenna articulated with basal part (not fused as in Ficalbia); hypostomal suture incomplete or absent, usually absent; seta 12-I present; siphon usually sharply narrowed distally, with spiracular apparatus sometimes modified and fused with siphon for piercing plant tissues; seta 1-S inserted beyond base (distinction from Ficalbia); pecten absent or reduced, at most with four spines; ventral brush (seta 4-X) with four to six pairs of setae; saddle complete or incomplete, without minute setae on midventral area of segment X (distinction from Ficalbia). The larvae share many characteristics with Hodgesia, which differ in having a complete hypostomal suture and exceptionally long thoracic setae. See Ficalbiini.

Bionomics

• Very little is known about the bionomics of Mimomyia. The larvae of most species occur in swamps and marshes with dense vegetation. The larval siphon of several species is modified for piercing aquatic plants to obtain oxygen. Larvae of subgenus Ingramia are found in the leaf axils of plants. The adults of several species have been reported to bite humans, but none are serious pests. Most species appear to be active at night.

Medical

• The species of Mimomyia have no medical importance.

Important References

Barraud, 1934 (southern Asia) Edwards, 1941 (adults, Afrotropical Region) Hopkins, 1952 (larvae, Afrotropical Region) Belkin, 1962 (taxonomy [including Ficalbia], South Pacific) Delfinado, 1966 (Philippines)

Tanaka, 1979 (Japan) Grjebine, 1986 (Madagascar) Lee et al., 1988c (Australasian Region) Service, 1990 (Afrotropical Region)

Included Taxa

Subgenus ETORLEPTIOMYIA Theobald, 1904 bougainvillensis Belkin, 1962 elegans (Taylor, 1914 luzonensis (Ludlow, 1905) martinei (Doucet, 1951) mediolineata (Theobald, 1904) solomonis (Belkin, 1962) xanthozona (van Someren, 1948)

Subgenus INGRAMIA Edwards, 1912 aurata (Doucet, 1951) bernardi (Doucet, 1950) beytouti (Doucet, 1951) brygooi Grjebine, 1986 collessi Grjebine, 1986 deguzmanae (Mattingly, 1957) fusca (Leicester, 1908) grjebinei (Brunhes, 1977) jeansottei (Doucet, 1950) kiriromi (Klein, 1969) levicastilloi Grjebine, 1986 longicornis Grjebine, 1986 marksae Grjebine, 1986 mattinglyi Grjebine, 1986 milloti Grjebine, 1986 mogii Miyagi, Toma & Higa, 2004 ramalai Grjebine, 1986 roubaudi (Doucet, 1950) spinosa (Doucet, 1951) stellata Grjebine, 1986 vansomerenae Grjebine, 1986

Subgenus MIMOMYIA Theobald, 1903 aurea (Leicester, 1908) chamberlaini Ludlow, 1904 subspecies chamberlaini Ludlow, 1904 subspecies clavipalpus (Theobald, 1908) subspecies metallica (Leicester, 1908) femorata (Edwards, 1936) flavens (King & Hoogstraal, 1946) flavopicta (Edwards, 1936) gurneyi (Belkin, 1962) hispida (Theobald, 1910) hybrida (Leicester, 1908) intermedia (Barraud, 1929) lacustris (Edwards, 1935) mimomyiaformis (Newstead, 1907) modesta (King & Hoogstraal, 1946) pallida Edwards, 1925 parenti (de Meillon & Lavoipierre, 1944) perplexens (Edwards, 1932) plumosa (Theobald, 1901) splendens Theobald, 1903

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.