Relevance of female genitalic attributes in species identification of Culicinae

Abstract

The genitalia of female mosquitoes exhibits outstanding morphological variations which are of generic significance. A number of important taxonomic attributes have been studied in the genitalia of seven species viz., Christopharsiomyia thomsoni (Theobald), Coquillettidia crassipes (van der Wulp), Culex (Eumelanomyia) brevipalpi (Giles), Fredwardius vittatus (Bigot), Mucidus scatophagoides (Theobald), Neomelaniconion lineatopenne (Ludlow) and Verrallina (Neomacleaya) indica (Theobald) collected during survey cum collection tours from 2009-2011. The attributes like tergum IX, insula, lower and upper vaginal lips, spermathecal eminence, spermathecal capsules, cercus and post genital plate have been illustrated and discussed in detailed.