Anopheles namibiensis Coetzee 1984

Anopheles namibiensis Coetzee, 1984

TYPE LOCALITY: Mahongo, Kavango District, Namibia.

Described and named as a new species based on morphological characters of the adults, larva and pupa, and differences in chromosomal inversion banding patterns compared with An. ziemanni Grünberg, 1902.

DESCRIPTION:

Wing length: 5.0 mm.

Wing (Fig. 5): Subcostal and preapical pale spots present, small; apical pale fringe spot rarely extending beyond wing tip of R 3.

Maxillary palpus: Shaggy, with four pale bands.

Legs:Apex of foretibia and base of foretarsomere 1 always dark. Apex of hindtibia, base of hindtarsomere 1 and apices of hindtarsomeres 1 and 2 with pale spots at most 3 times as wide as diameter of the tarsomere; hindtarsomeres 4 and 5 pale, 0.5 of hindtarsomere 3 pale.

LARVAL HABITAT: Vegetated pools and swamps in forested areas around Yaoundé, Cameroon (Manga et al. 1997).

ADULT BIOLOGY: Females were collected in cattle enclosures at the type locality (Coetzee 1984). In Cameroon, human landing catches carried out in Simbock village, Yaoundé, yielded 10 An. namibiensis (Manga et al. 1997). The records of An. namibiensis from Cameroon (Ayala et al. 2009) using pyrethrum spray catches in houses show it to be present in the western highlands, Adamaoua highlands and the central plateau near Yaoundé.

DISTRIBUTION: Mahongo in Kavango District, northern Namibia; Yaoundé, Cameroon. The Tanzanian distribution record given in Irish et al. (2020) is incorrect as Mahongo is in Namibia, not Tanzania.