Culex marksae is a species of mosquito in the subgenus Lophoceraomyia first circumscribed in 1955 by Willard V. King and Harry Hoogstraal.Willard V. King and Harry Hoogstraal. 1955. Three New Species of New Guinea Culex, Subgenus Lophoceraomyia, with Notes on Other Species (Diptera, Culicidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 57(1):1-11. The specific epithet honors Dr. Elizabeth N. Marks whose research and writings "added a great deal to the knowledge of Australasian Culicidae."Willard V. King and Harry Hoogstraal. 1955. Three New Species of New Guinea Culex, Subgenus Lophoceraomyia, with Notes on Other Species (Diptera, Culicidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 57(1):1-11.
C. marksae is small to medium-sized, the wings usually about 3.0 mm in length, the thorax deep brown to black, the abdominal tergites having dark scales, and wings and legs lacking prominent ornamentation.Sunthorn Sirivanakarn. 1968. The Culex subgenus Lophoceraomyia in New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago (Diptera: Culicidae). Pacific Insects Monographs 17: 75-186.Willard V. King and Harry Hoogstraal. 1955. Three New Species of New Guinea Culex, Subgenus Lophoceraomyia, with Notes on Other Species (Diptera, Culicidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 57(1):1-11.
Bionomics
C. marksae is the type of a taxonomic complex that includes the species C. versabilis, C. muruae, C. kowiroensis, C. wamanguae and C. leei.Sunthorn Sirivanakarn. 1968. The Culex subgenus Lophoceraomyia in New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago (Diptera: Culicidae). Pacific Insects Monographs 17: 75-186. Members of the marksae complex breed in natural containers such as palm bracts and sago stumps and occasionally in small ground pools along stream margins in sago swamps or in the rainforest, and are capable of breeding in artificial containers.Sunthorn Sirivanakarn. 1968. The Culex subgenus Lophoceraomyia in New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago (Diptera: Culicidae). Pacific Insects Monographs 17: 75-186. The adults are rarely encountered in general field catches, and no direct evidence has been put forward to indicate that species of Lophoceraomyia bite humans, although several field-caught females have been found to be engorged with a substance resembling blood, suggesting that they might feed on wild birds or other animals in nature.Sunthorn Sirivanakarn. 1968. The Culex subgenus Lophoceraomyia in New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago (Diptera: Culicidae). Pacific Insects Monographs 17: 75-186.
Distribution
Indonesia, the island of New Guinea; Western New Guinea, and Singapore.Willard V. King and Harry Hoogstraal. 1955. Three New Species of New Guinea Culex, Subgenus Lophoceraomyia, with Notes on Other Species (Diptera, Culicidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 57(1):1-11.Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit: Systematic Catalog of Culicidae, Culicidae » Culicinae » Culicini » Culex » Lophoceraomyia » marksae King and Hoogstraal, http://www.mosquitocatalog.org/taxon_descr.aspx?ID=16653, retrieved April 22, 2018.Johannes van den Assem. 1958. The larva and female of Culex (Lophoceraomyia) marksae King and Hoogstraal (Diptera, Culicidae). Entomologische Berichten, 18: 218-219.
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