The new description of male, pupa and larva of Aedes (Finlaya) savoryi Bohart, 1956,with a note on its bionomics

Abstract

Aedes (Finlaya) savoryi Bohart, 1956 was described by the original author from eight females. In 1969 and in 1971,the present authors discovered its larvae and pupae in seaside rock-pools in Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands. The present paper deals with the descriptions of the male, pupa and larva of Aedes savoryi which heretofore were unknown. As pointed out by Bohart, females possessed characters of subgroup III, group H of subgenus Finlaya proposed by Knight & Marks (1952). But male genitalia of this species lacked the "tuft" of specialized scales, which was the key character of subgroup III. The pupa and larva of this species were similar in structure to those of Aedes togoi. The pupa of the former could be distinguished from that of the latter in that the paddle without spicules was provided with two apical hairs. In larva, the number of teeth on mental plate was from 21 to 25 in A. savcryi and from 29 to 37 in A. togoi. This species is indigenous to the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands and breeds in the brackish water rock-pools only. The blood sucking activity was highest at sunset and sunrise, but attacked man during the day as well.