Iowa State University

From the SelectedWorks of Gregory W. Courtney

November, 1993

Notes on the mosquitoes of : III. additional new records in 1992 (Diptera: Culicidae) Richard F. Darsie, Jr., University of South Carolina Gregory W. Courtney, Smithsonian Institution Shreedhar P. Pradhan, U.S. Agency for International Development

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/gregory_courtney/39/ Systematics, 25(3): 186-191, 1993 Copyright © 1993 by the American Mosquito Control Association, Inc. NOTES ON THE MOSQUITOES OF NEPAL: III. ADDITIONAL NEW RECORDS IN 1992 (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE)

1 2 RICHARD F. DARSIE, JR. , GREGORY W. COURTNEY AND SHREEDHAR P. PRADHAN3

ABSTRACT. The result~ of a mosquito survey in the Western Region of Nepal are reported. A genus, Aede~myza, two subgenera, Aedeomyia and Tripteroides, and 14 species are reco:ded for the ~rst time. Most of the new records are species in the genus Aedes collected at the higher elevat10ns of the Annapurna Range of the Himalaya Mountains.

INTRODUCTION tions during the period July to October. We are here reporting results of our explorations. The Himalayan country of Nepal is diverse Objectives and methods are the same as those not only with respect to altitude and topog­ given by Darsie et al. (1992). raphy but also in terms of its native biota. Our first camp was in Pokhara, Kaski Dis­ Faunistically the country is considered to be trict, at an altitude of 915 m. Although at a a composite of the Palearctic and Oriental relatively low altitude, Pokhara is only 25 km biogeographic regions. It is expected that Ne­ from the summits of the Annapurna Himal, pal's mosquito diversity will parallel the a range that contains three peaks exceeding country's topographical and biogeographic 7 ,000 m. Due to its proximity to these high diversity and that an effective survey of this mountains, Pokhara has become one of the multifariousness will require considerable most popular tourist centers in Nepal. A log­ time and effort. The current study was, there­ ical outgrowth of its location and popularity fore, designed to survey the fauna over a four­ is the development of a good system of all­ year period, each year focusing on a different weather roads and convenient trekking routes region. Nepal is divided into five political and facilities. Consequently, they afforded us regions, Eastern, Central, Western, Mid­ ready access to many districts and moun­ western, and Farwestern. During 1991, the tainous areas. From this base, mosquitoes first year of the study, the Eastern Region was were sampled throughout the northern part studied, with significant discoveries reported of the Western Region, including sections of by Darsie et al. (1992). The nation's capital, Kaski, Parbat, Tanahu, Gorkha, Myagdi, and Kathmandu, is in the Central Region, where Mustang districts. The Pokhara camp lasted many previous collections have been made. 38 days, which permitted sufficient time to Because the mosquito fauna of this region is sample a diversity of mosquito habitats. A well known, it was omitted from this project. visit to the northernmost Mustang District The 1992 survey was concentrated in the and associated treks into mountainous ter­ Western Region, primarily in the mountain­ rain were especially rewarding, allowing us ous areas around Pokhara and the T erai west to sample habitats up to 3,800 m. Further of Butwal town. Working from two base details on the Mustang experience will be the camps, we made a total of 331 field callee- subject of a separate paper. The second camp was established in the 1 International Center for Public Health Research Uni- Terai 60 km west of Butwal, near the small ~~s~~4~~~outh Carolina, P.O. Box 699, McClella~ville, village of Tikkar in Kapilvastu District. This lowland site at an altitude of 250 m was lo­ ~Department of Entomology, National Museum of Nat­ cated in a primary forest adjacent to several ural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560. small farms and a small permanent stream. 1 USAID/Nepal, Rabi Bhawan, Kalimati, Kathmandu, Tikkar is composed of three separate com­ Nepal. munities, each surrounded by rice paddies. 186 NOVEMBER 1993 187

The village and neighboring terrain, mostly 92, 12, reared from pupa; VIII-13-92, 32, 25, forested, yielded diverse mosquito habitats, reared from larvae and pupae; VIII-14-92, including artificial containers, ditches, tree­ 102, 15, reared from larvae, 252, 285, reared holes, borrow pits, leaf axils, and crab holes. from pupae, BBP, ex unused concrete fish The one drawback was the paucity ofbamboo ponds with floating decaying plant material, plantings in the area. Three collectors were associated with Anopheles annularis van der dispatched to Tansen, Palpa District, at 1,300 Wulp, An. subpictus Grassi, An. vagus Doe­ m to survey breeding sites. There they en­ nitz, Culex pseudovishnui Colless. countered sufficient bamboo to make mean­ Aedeomyia catasticta is widely distributed ingful collections. Also, nearby Rupandehi throughout the Oriental Region, south to and Argakanchi districts were visited. Our Australia and east to the South Pacific Islands Tikkar camp continued for 23 days. (Knight and Stone 1977, Tyson 1970, Bar­ The genus Aedeomyia Theobald, subgen­ raud 1934, as Ad. venustipes (Skuse)). How­ era Aedeomyia Theobald and Tripteroides ever, the genus Aedeomyia Theobald had Giles, and 14 species were recorded from Ne­ never been taken in Nepal. The tenacity of pal for the first time. Most of these discov­ B.B. Pradhan was responsible for locating the eries belong to the genus Aedes, 11 in the larval habitat. The breeding site near Begnash subgenus Finlaya Theobald and one in sub­ Tal was a series of concrete tanks that had genus Aedimorphus Theobald. The preva­ been constructed as part of an aquaculture lence of Aedes among the new records reflect­ project. The tanks had not yet been employed ed a sample design that focused on habitats for fish production, and most were about half frequented by species of this genus. Before full of water containing volunteer aquatic the present project began in 1991, 24 species plants. Larvae of Ad. catasticta were associ­ of Aedes were known from Nepal (Darsie and ated with floating aggregates of gray, decaying Pradhan 1990). In the past two years, an ad­ aquatic vegetation, mostly confined to the ditional 24 species have been added. It is now comers of the tanks. This distinctive mos­ the genus represented by the largest number quito was easily recognized using Tyson of species. ( 1970). The subgenus Aedeomyia Theobald The collection records below show the oth­ is also a new record for Nepal, and Tyson er species with which the 14 newly recorded characterizes it in his keys. taxa were associated. We have no such data on Ae. pampangensis (Ludlow) because only Aedes (Aedimorphus) pampangensis (Ludlow) adults were collected. The immature stages of all other species were found in association KAPILVASTU, Gorasinghi, Tikkar Vil­ with one to 11 species in seven genera. lage, elevation 250 m, IX-18-92, 22, SNJ, Abbreviations for the collectors used in the attracted to humans in primary forest. data below are as follows: GWC-G.W. This species was described by Reinert Courtney, MD-M. Das, SNJ-S.N. Jha, (1973), who synonymizedAe. niveoscutellum GSN-G.S. Nepal, BBP-B.B. Pradhan, and Theobald with it. It is apparently confined to TS-T. Shrestha. The abbreviations for the low elevations. genera follow Reinert ( 197 5). The name of the political district is given in uppercase let­ Aedes (Finlaya) albotaeniatus (Leicester) ters. KASKI, Chhomrung, Annapurna Base Camp trail, elevation 2,200 m, VIII-23-92, NEW COUNTRY RECORDS 12, reared from pupa, GWC, ex reservoir with clear, fresh water, associated with Ae. shortti Aedeomyia (Aedeomyia) catasticta Knab (Barraud), Ae. pseudotaeniatus (Giles). KASKI, Pokhara, Begnash Tal (Lake), 6 Although our specimen was collected at km E of Pokhara, elevation 677 m, VIII-8- 2,200 m, this species is by no means confined 188 MOSQUITO SYSTEMATICS VOL. 25, No. 3 to the higher altitudes. Harrison et al. ( 1991) bopictus, Ae. albolateralis, Ar. subalbatus gave a meaningful discussion of its distri­ (collected by BBP). bution, in most of the Oriental Region from Pokhara, Yamdi Khola bridge near Suikh­ and Nepal eastward, and taxonomic et, elevation 1,200 m, VIII-13-92, 12, reared status. Edwards (1922) described a new re­ from larva, 15, reared from pupa, ex treehole, lated species, Ae. mikiranus from Assam, In­ associated with Ae. albolateralis, Ae. guber­ dia, which was reduced to a variety of Ae. natoris (Giles), Ae. feegradei Barraud, Ae. albotaeniatus by Barraud ( 19 34) and was syn­ craggi (Barraud), VIII-13-92, 12, GWC, onymized with Ae. albotaeniatus by Harrison reared from pupa, ex bamboo stump, asso­ et al. (1991). The Nepal specimen is the Ae. ciated with Ae. albolateralis; Kaare, elevation mikiranus form, characterized by a scutum 1,600 m, VIII-13-92, 25, reared from pupae, with dark brown scales and indistinct narrow GWC, ex treehole, associated with Ae. al­ yellow lines rather than a white frontal patch bolateralis, Ae. cogilli Edwards, Ae. deccanus as in the typical form (Barraud 1934). (Barraud); Lumle, elevation 1,200 m, VIII- This species belongs to the Albotaeniatus 13-92, 15, reared from larva, 25, reared from Group as defined by Knight (1948). The group pupae, BBP, ex treehole, associated with Ae. contains 28 species with odd geographic dis­ gilli (Barraud), Ae. albolateralis; Pokhara, tribution, i.e., 17 species in the Australasian Sarangkot Pakha, elevation 1,000 m, VIII- Region, eight on the Indian Subcontinent, and 19-92, 22, reared from larvae, 35, reared from one each in Korea and the Philippines. The pupa, BBP, ex treehole, associated with Ae. nominate species is widely distributed. albolateralis, Ar. subalbatus, Or. anophe­ loides, Tx. splendens; Tholomani, elevation 915 m, VIII-25-92, 12, 15, reared from lar­ Aedes (Finlaya) cacharanus (Barraud) vae, 12, 15, reared from pupae, GSN, extree­ KASKI, Pokhara, elevation 915 m, VII- hole, associated with Ae. albolateralis, Ae. al­ 28-92, 15, reared from pupa, ex bamboo bopictus. stump, associated with Ae. albopictus (Skuse), This species is confined to the northern Ae. niveoides Barraud, Ae. albolateralis Indian Subcontinent. It was the most com­ (Theobald), Ae. prominens (Barraud), Armi­ mon new record encountered in the environs geres inchoatus Barraud, Ar. subalbatus (Co­ of the Pokhara Valley. It was never collected quillett); Pokhara, Lamachaur, elevation in pure culture; it was associated with 11 spe­ 1,000 m, VII-28-92, 15, reared from pupa, cies of mosquitoes in five genera. ex treehole, associated with Ae. dissimilis, Ae. prominens, Ar. inchoatus, Heizmannia hima­ Aedes (Finlaya) cogilli Edwards layensis Edwards; VII-29-92, 15, reared from larva, ex treehole, associated with Ae. prom­ KASKI, Kaare, elevation 1,600 m, VIII- i nens, Toxorhynchites splendens (Wiede­ 16-92, 25, GWC, ex treehole, associated with mann); VIII-2-92, 25, reared from pupae, ex Ae. deccanus, Ae. albolateralis, Ae. cachara­ bamboo stump, associated with Ae. albopic­ nus. tus, Ae. albolateralis, Ae. prominens, Ar. in­ This species apparently is quite rare, orig­ choatus; VIII-11-92, 35, reared from pupae, inally known from southern India, not re­ 12, reared from larva, ex treehole, associated ported by Bhat ( 197 5) in his report on a sur­ with Ae. albolateralis, Ae. dissimilis, Ae. vey of the Indian Himalayas. It is one of prominens, Ae. albopictus, Ar. subalbatus, several treehole species being recorded in this Orthopodomyia anopheloides (Giles); Pok­ account. hara, Mahendra Gubha (cave), elevation 1,075 m, VIII-4-92, 42, 15, ex bamboo stump, Aedes (Finlaya) deccanus (Barraud) associated with Ae. albopictus, Ae. albolater­ alis, Ae. annandalei (Theobald); Pokhara, KASKI, Kaare, elevation 1,600 m, VIII- Sarangkot, elevation 1,000 m, VIII-5-92, 12, 16-92, 22, reared from pupae, GWC, ex tree­ ex bamboo stump, associated with Ae. al- hole, associated with Ae. albolateralis, Ae. NOVEMBER 1993 189 cogilli, Ae. cacharanus; Dhampus, Landruk­ ex bamboo stump, associated with Ae. al­ Suikhet trail, elevation 1,800 m, 12, GWC, bolateralis, Ae. gubernatoris, Ae. sp. of Ni­ reared from pupa, ex treehole, associated with veus Subgroup, Ar. subalbatus; PALPA, Ae. albolateralis, Ae. gubernatoris, Ar. sub­ Tansen, Basantapur, elevation 1,311 m, IX- albatus, Hz. himalayensis. 11-92, 15, reared from larva, TS, ex Collo­ This species is not known outside the In­ casia sp. leaf axil, associated with Ae. for­ dian Subcontinent, and only Barraud (1934) mosensis. reported its occurrence in the western Indian This species and Ae. formosensis are mem­ Himalayas. bers of the Chrysolineatus Subgroup and are mainly leaf axil breeders in Nepal, although Ae. harveyi was taken on two occasions from Aedes (Finlaya) elsiae (Barraud) bamboo stumps. It is widely distributed in KASKI, Lumle, near Dhoti Khola bridge, the Indian subcontinent and east­ elevation 1,200 m, VIII-17-92, 12, reared ward to and south to . We from larva, 12, reared from pupa, BBP, ex believe that these specimens fit the descrip­ rockhole, associated with Ae. pseudotaenia­ tions of Ae. harveyi by Knight ( 1968) and tus, Ae. macdougalli Edwards. Barraud (1934) except that the small subspi­ This species is closely related to and was racular scale patch, mentioned by Knight as found with Ae. macdougalli and Ae. pseu­ absent, is present in our specimens. dotaeniatus in rock pools that we sampled. Unlike Ae. macdougalli (see below), it is Aedes (Finlaya) lophoventralis (Theobald) widely distributed in the Oriental Region (Knight and Stone 1977). KASKI, Pokhara, Malepatan, elevation 915 m, VII-27-92, 12, BBP, attracted to humans; KAPILV ASTU, Gorasinghi, Tikkar Village, Aedes (Finlaya) feegradei (Barraud) elevation 250 m, IX-18-92, 12, reared from KASKI, K.aare, elevation 1,600 m, VIII- pupa, SNJ, ex depression in fallen tree, as­ 13-92, 12, reared from pupae, ex treehole; sociated with Ae. albopictus; RUPANDEHI, VIII-16-92, 12, reared from larva, GWC, ex Tunchawa, elevation 250 m, IX-20-92, 12, treehole, associated with Ae. albolateralis, Ae. 15, reared from larvae, 45, reared from pupae, cacharanus, Ae. gubernatoris. TS, ex treehole, no other species present. This species has a strange distribution pat­ This species is one of a group of subgenus tern. It was originally described from Ran­ Finlaya whose adults have erect or semierect goon, Burma (Barraud 1934), and has also scales on the abdominal sterna (and some­ been found in (Harrison et al. 1991) times the terga). Originally thought to be con­ and Ryukyu Islands (Knight and Stone 1977). fined to India and Pakistan, it is now known However, Torno and Miyagi (1986) do not from Nepal, (Ahmed 1987), and list it in the Ryukyu mosquito fauna. Thailand (Harrison et al. 1991 ).

Aedes (Finlaya) harveyi (Barraud) Aedes (Finlaya) macdougalli Edwards KASKI, Pokhara, Arghaun, elevation 791 KASKI, Lumle near Dhoti Khola bridge, m, VIII-10-92, 15, reared from pupa, BBP, elevation 1,200 m, VIII-17-92, 12, 15, reared ex bamboo stump, associated with Ae. al­ from pupae, GWC, ex rockhole, associated bopictus, Ae. craggi, Ar. magnus (Theobald), with Ae. pseudotaeniatus, Ae. elsiae. Ar. subalbatus; Landruk, Modi Khola trail, This species is related to and was found elevation 1,700 m, VIII-24-92, 15, reared with Ae. pseudotaeniatus and Ae. elsiae. Har­ from pupa, ex banana axil, associated with rison et al. ( 1991) disavows Ae. macdougalli's Ae. formosensis Yamada; 12 reared from lar­ presence in Thailand, , Indonesia, va, ex Collocasia sp. leaf axil, associated with and . Such claims are due to misiden­ Ae.formosensis; 15, reared from pupa, GWC, tifications. They are incorrect, however, in 190 MOSQUITO SYSTEMATICS VOL. 25, No. 3 believing that it is confined to Sri Lanka and TS, ex bamboo stump, associated with Ae. south India for we have a good record within albopictus, Ae. w-albus (Theobald), Ar. sub­ the Himalaya Range. albatus, Tx. splendens. This is the second species of genus Tri­ pteroides and the first in subgenus Triptero­ Aedes (Finlaya) niveoides (Barraud) ides recorded from Nepal (Mattingly 1981). RAMECHHAP, Ramechhap, elevation Larvae were aspirated from a bamboo stump 1,378 m, IX-4-91, 15, TS, ex treehole, as­ at 1,300 m, apparently the highest altitude sociated with Ae. albolateralis; KASKI, Pok­ record for the species, according to Barraud hara, elevation 915 m, VII-28-92, 12, reared (1934). It was originally described as a sub­ from pupa, BBP, ex bamboo stump, associ­ species of Tr. powelli (Ludlow) but was ele­ ated with Ae. albopictus, Ae. albolateralis, Ae. vated to specific rank by Thurman (1959). prominens, Ar. inchoatus, Ar. subalbatus. Mattingly (1981) and Baisas and Ubaldo-Pa­ This species is the third representative of gayon (1952) offer descriptions in part. It is the Niveus Subgroup in Nepal, the others distributed in India, Thailand, Burma, and being Ae. novoniveus Barraud and Ae. albo­ Indonesia. This species belongs to the Niti­ lateralis (Darsie et al. 1992). doventer Group as defined by Mattingly (1981). Tripteroides aranoides (Theobald), the first Aedes (Finlaya) shortti (Barraud) taxon of this genus for Nepal (Darsie et al. MUSTANG, Kobang, Kali Gandaki trail, 1992), common in the Eastern Region, was elevation 2,600 m, VIII-5-92, 32, 15, reared absent from the Western Region. from larvae, 15, reared from pupa, ex stream pool, associated with Ae. pseudotaeniatus; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS MYAGDI, Ghasa, Kali Gandaki trail, ele­ vation 1,951 m, VIII-6-92, 52, 15, reared from The project was supported by the National larvae, 42, 55, reared from pupae, ex seepage, Geographic Society grant no. 4812-92 and associated with Ae. pseudotaeniatus, Ae. dis­ the authors are grateful to Steven Stettes for similis, Ae. pulchriventer (Giles), Cx. palli­ his efforts on our behalf. The authors are in­ dothorax Theobald; KASKI, Banthanti, debted to B.L. Shrestha, Chief, and R.G. Vai­ Ghorapani trial, elevation 2,200 m, VIII-8- dya, Chief, Entomology Section, Malaria 92, 12, 15, reared from larvae, 32, 25, reared Control Division, Nepal Ministry of Health, from pupae, ex small ground pool, associated for their cooperation in providing personnel with Ae. pulchriventer, Ae. pseudotaeniatus; for the teams working on the project; to R. Chhomrung, Annapurna Base Camp trail, el­ Manda! and S.N. Jha, entomologists, and the evation 2,200 m, VIII-23-92, 32, reared from staff of the Entomology Section, Malaria larvae, 12, 15, reared from pupae, ex reservoir Control Division, for their support during the pond, associated with Ae. pseudotaeniatus, field work; to D.A. Oot and M. Gingerich, Ae. albotaeniatus (collected by GWC). Office of Health and Family Planning, This is a true high altitude species. The USAID/Nepal, for their interest in the pro­ average elevation of its breeding sites in Ne­ ject; and to D.C. Williams, T.B. Vincent, and pal was 2,237 m and the lowest, 1,951 m. the staff of the International Center for Public Bhat (1975) collected this species at an av­ Health Research, University of South Car­ erage altitude of 2,571 m and a low of 1,140 olina, for their sustenance during the project. m in the Indian Himalayas. Harrison et al. (1991) listed it from Thailand. REFERENCES CITED Ahmed, T. V. 19 8 7. Checklist of the mos­ Tripteroides (Tripteroides) indicus (Barraud) quitoes of Bangladesh. Mosq. Syst. 19: 187- PALPA, Tansen, Sundar Village, elevation 200. 1,300 m, IX-9-92, 12, 15, reared from larva, Baisas, F.E. and A. Ubaldo-Pagayon. 1952. NOVEMBER 1993 191

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