Culex ( Eumelanomyia ) malayensis Sirivanakarn, 1972

1. Culex ( Eumelanomyia) malayensis Sirivanakarn, 1972 View in CoL

A single adult male ( A39528 View Materials ) of Cx. (Eum.) malayensis was reared from a larva collected on 2 January 2024 from a rock pool between Shillong and Mawsynram, East Khasi Hills ( 25.374599 N; 91.634505 E, 1,495 m a.s.l.). The specimen, slightly damaged during emergence, was identified by comparing dissected antennae and genitalia with the original species description of Sirivanakarn (1972). Culex malayensis was described from specimens from Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.

Diagnosis. The maxillary palpus of the male exceeds the proboscis by the full length of palpomere 5. The antenna lacks minor whorls of short setae on flagellomeres 1–11 ( Fig. 2a). The gonocoxite lacks submarginal setae and does not have a leaflet on the subapical lobe. The subapical lobe is undivided, with 3 slender proximal rods, a fine hair-like seta and 3 narrow blade-like setae; leaflets are absent. The gonostylus is stout, slightly curved medially and bears a long, hooked subapical claw ( Fig. 2b). The phallosome is unsclerotized with broad-based lateral plates tapering into a blunt apex. The median spine is simple, and the lateral margins lack denticles or acute projections ( Fig. 2c). This differs from the description of Sirivanakarn (1972), which denotes a strongly sclerotized phallosome, apically forked spines and acute lateral angles.

Comparisons were also made with Afrotropical species of the Rubinotus-rima Group ( Sirivanakarn 1971) of the subgenus Eumelanomyia (classified as species of Neoculex Dyar, 1905 in Edwards 1941), further supporting identification as Cx. malayensis . Morphologically, Cx. malayensis resembles Cx. simplicicornis Edwards, 1930 and Cx. jefferyi Sirivanakarn, 1977a but differs by lacking submarginal setae and possessing an oval, unsclerotized phallosome. It also lacks the large spine-like process of the lateral plate seen in Cx. jefferyi . Ecologically, Cx. malayensis is associated with freshwater habitats, unlike Cx. jefferyi , which is restricted to coastal areas. In this study, larvae were found in shaded forest rock pools.