Abstract
Culex mosquitoes are important vectors of various pathogens to both humans and animals. The present study describes a new species to science as Culex (Culex) kodaikanalensis Suman, Veer and Chandra sp. nov. based on morphology, morphometrics of adult females and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and 16S rRNA genes. This species, Cx. kodaikanalensis, belongs to Mimeticus subgroup of Culex genus represented by banded or spotted wings. It can be identified with the absence of longitudinal pale stripes on anterior surface of all tibiae and presence of pale spot on furcation of both R and M veins. In addition, the length of pale spots on R4+5 (0.18 to 0.9) and Anal (0.1 to 0.5) veins of Cx. kodaikanalensis also differ from other species of the subgroup. The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (562 bp) and 16S rRNA (539 bp) gene sequences of Cx. kodaikanalensis established the close affinity with Mimeticus subgroup species in comparison to other culicine species being the closest to Culex gaugleri. These pieces of evidence confirm the status of Cx. kodaikanalensis as an individual species. Culex kodaikanalensis is prevalent at high altitudes (> 1500 m) of Kodaikanal hills in Tamil Nadu, India. The prevalence of the larval habitats near the residential areas suggests further studies on host feeding behaviour of the species.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata (WB), India for approval and financial support under the Annual Research Programmes of Zoological Survey of India. The authors also thank the staff of ZSI and forest department staff for assistance during the field surveys. The authors also acknowledge partial financial support from the Department of Science and Technology, SBIR Grant No. ECR/2017/001917 and Annual Research Programme 2018-2021 on “Taxonomy and ecology of Aedes mosquito vectors (Culicidae: Diptera) of dengue, chikungunya and Zika”, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata (WB).
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GS, SD-experimentation, data acquisition, analysis, DSS-conception and designing, data analysis, collection, VK-molecular analysis, DB, VV, KC-writing, proof-reading.
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The research programme was approved by the Annual Research Programme committee of Zoological Survey of India for the Year 2018–2021 as well as by the concerned forest departments.
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Suman, D.S., Sharma, G., De, S. et al. Description of Culex (Culex) kodaikanalensis sp. nov. (Diptera: Culicidae) from India with phyletic analysis using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and 16S rRNA genes. Int J Trop Insect Sci 42, 2969–2978 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-022-00825-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-022-00825-3