[English and Russian terminology for the thoracic skeletal structures of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae): a critical review]

Parazitologiia. 2013 Jul-Aug;47(4):299-319.
[Article in Russian]

Abstract

The authors analyze different names of thoracic skeletal structures in mosquitoes (Dip- tera: Culicidae), used by various authors (Kirkpatrick, 1925; Edwards, 1932; Stackelberg, 1937; Sazonova, 1958; Belkin, 1962a, b: Maslov, 1967: Gutsevich et al., 1970; Knight, Laffoon, 1970; McAlpine, 1981; Becker et al., 2010). In the abovementioned publications, a small number of skeletal structures, morphologically very important for the identification of species and genera of the family Culicidae, are denoted by multiple synonymic names, while certain completely different skeletal structures are represented under a single homonymous name. Duplicated synonymic names for thoracic sclerites, setae, and scales on sclerites considerably hamper the work of specialists determining species of the family Culicidae. In some cases, this fact results in erroneous diagnostics of species. We provide a detailed description of the thoracic morphology of mosquitoes, pointing to existing synonymic Russian and English names for each skeletal structure and also recommend the use of a single Russian term for each structure.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animal Structures / ultrastructure*
  • Animals
  • Culicidae / ultrastructure*
  • Terminology as Topic
  • Thorax / ultrastructure*