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Name-bearing Type

• Hutton
• 1902:188
• Type Species: Opifex fuscus

Classification

• Subfamily Culicinae, tribe Aedini. Opifex includes two species placed in separate subgenera: Nothoskusea and Opifex.

Distribution

• The type species, Op. (Opifex) fuscus, is found only in New Zealand, and Op. (Nothoskusea) chathamicus occurs on Chatham Island
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Phylogeny

• [Not yet available]

Characteristics

• The adults of Opifex are large mosquitoes. They have a wide interocular space and frons, numerous scutal and abdominal setae, and the remigium of the wing in females (and males of Op. fuscus) bears setae at the base ventrally as in Culiseta. Males exhibit two unique features: the antennal flagellomeres have only a few short setae and the two apical flagellomeres are approximately the same length as the others. Larvae have seta 6-I-V usually at least triple, seta 7-I usually at least double, a relatively small dorsal saddle, a strongly developed ventral brush (seta 4-X) and small, rounded anal papillae. Opifex shares many features with Halaedes. See Aedini.

Bionomics

• Opifex larvae occur in coastal rock-pools containing brackish, saline or hyper-saline water. The larvae of Op. fuscus have also been collected from a hole in a tree trunk projecting over the seashore, a fresh water stream and a horse trough. The adults of Op. chathamicus have not been encountered in nature, but females of Op. fuscus are known to attack at night and produce a painful bite. Males of the latter species exhibit a unique mating behaviour that includes precocious coupling with females before they have fully emerged from their pupal exuviae.

Medical

• Opifex are not a medically or economically important species.

Important References

Belkin, 1962 (taxonomy) Belkin, 1968 (New Zealand) Lee et al., 1984, 1988c (Nothoskusea and Opifex, respectively) Reinert et al., 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 (phylogeny, classification)

Included Taxa

Subgenus NOTHOSKUSEA Dumbleton, 1962 chathamicus (Dumbleton, 1962)

Subgenus OPIFEX Hutton, 1902 fuscus Hutton, 1902)

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.