Species Aedes (Molpemyia) purpurea (Theobald, 1910)

Molpemyia purpurea Theobald, F.V. 1910. A Monograph of the Culicidae or Mosquitoes. London : British Museum (Natural History) Vol. 5 646 pp. [479].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH ♀ adult, Stannary Hills, QLD.
Calomyia priestleyi Taylor, F.H. 1914. The Culicidae of Australia.—I. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 1913: 683-708 [684].
Type data:
Holotype ANIC ♀ adult, Townsville, QLD.
Ochlerotatus purpurea Edwards, F.W. 1912. A key to the Australasian species of Ochlerotatus (Culicidae). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 9: 521-527.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Generic Combinations

Molymemyia purpurea Theobald, 1910. —
Reinert, J.F., Harbach, R.E. & Kitching, I.J. 2006. Phylogeny and classification of Finlaya and allied taxa (Diptera: Culicidae: Aedini) based on morphological data from all life stages. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 148: 1-101 [93]
Aedes (Finlaya) purpureus (Theobald, 1910). —
Edwards, F.W. 1924. A synopsis of the adult mosquitoes of the Australasian Region. Bulletin of Entomological Research 14: 351-401 [381]
'Ochlerotatus' ('Molpemyia') purpureus (Theobald, 1910) [sensu auctorum]. —
Reinert, J.F., Harbach, R.E. & Kitching, I.J. 2004. Phylogeny and classification of Aedini (Diptera: Culicidae), based on morphological characters of all life stages. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 142: 289-368 [362]
Aedes (Molpemyia) purpureus (Theobald, 1910). —
Reinert, J.F. 1993. Redescription of Molpemyia, and its revalidation as a subgenus of Aedes (Diptera: Culicudae). Mosquito Systematics 25(1): 41-63 [57]
Wilkerson, R.C., Linton, Y-M., Fonseca, D.M., Schultz, T.R., Price, D.C., & Strickman, D.A. 2015. Making mosquito taxonomy useful: a stable classification of tribe Aedini that balances utility with current knowledge of evolutionary relationships. PLoS ONE (Public Library of Science) 10(7): e0133602 [appendix S1]

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: volant.

Larva: tree hole.

Extra Ecological Information

Adult females are avid biters during the day and night and rarely bite humans; larva found in water which collects in rot holes, boles of Baobab (Adansonia gregorii F.Muell. [Bombacaceae]) trees and tree cavities from mango, cockatoo apple (Planchonia careya F.Muell. [Lecythidaceae]), tea-tree (Melaleuca sp. and eucalypts [Myrtaceae]).