Austrosimulium

Austrosimulium
Austrosimulium australense
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Simuliidae
Subfamily: Simuliinae
Tribe: Simuliini
Genus: Austrosimulium
Tonnoir, 1925
Type species
Austrosimulium australense
(Schiner, 1868)[1]
Austrosimulium australense, New Zealand

Austrosimulium is a genus of about 30 species of black flies that are distributed in Australia and New Zealand. There are 2 subgenera: Austrosimulium whose species are principally from New Zealand, and Novaustrosimulium which are exclusively Australian.[2] Austrosimulium is a sister genus to the monospecific Paraustrosimulium of South America.[3]

Some species are known to spread the protozoan blood parasite Leucocytozoon tawaki in penguins.[4][5][6]

In New Zealand, where they are known as sandflies or namu (in Māori from Proto-Austronesian *ñamuk "mosquito", compare with Malay: nyamuk),[7][8] three species – A. australense, A. tillyardianum and A. ungulatum – bite humans.[9][7][10]

  1. ^ Schiner, I.R. (1868). Diptera. vi In [Wullerstorf-Urbair, B. von (in charge)], Reise der osterreichischen Fregatte Novara. Zool. 2(1)B. Wien: K. Gerold's Sohn. pp. 388pp., 4 pls.
  2. ^ Peter H. Adler & Roger W. Crosskey (2009). World Blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae): A Comprehensive Revision of the Taxonomic and Geographical Inventory (PDF) (Report). p. 109.
  3. ^ Craig, Douglas Abercrombie McBeath; Craig, Ruth E. G.; Crosby, Trevor K. (2012-06-29). "Simuliidae (Insecta: Diptera)". Fauna of New Zealand. 68. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.68.
  4. ^ Douglas A. Craig & Trevor K. Crosby (2008). "Gynandromorphs of New Zealand Austrosimulium spp. (Diptera: Simuliidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1811. New Zealand: Magnolia Press: 57–68. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1811.1.4. ISSN 1175-5334. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  5. ^ A. M. Fallis; S. A. Bisset; F. R. Allison (1976). "Leucocytozoon tawaki n.sp. (Eucoccida: Leucocytozoidae) from the penguin Eudyptes pachyrhynchus, and preliminary observations on its development in Austrosimulium spp. (Diptera: Simuliidae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 3 (1). Wellington, New Zealand: The Royal Society of New Zealand: 11–16. doi:10.1080/03014223.1976.9517893.
  6. ^ T. K. Crosby (1976). "Austrosimulium (Austrosimulium) dumbletoni n.sp. from New Zealand (Diptera: Simuliidae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 3 (1). Wellington, New Zealand: The Royal Society of New Zealand: 17–19. doi:10.1080/03014223.1976.9517894.
  7. ^ a b Walrond, Carl (24 September 2007). "Sandflies and mosquitoes - Sandflies: New Zealand's blackflies". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  8. ^ Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen (2010). "*ñamuk: mosquito". Austronesian Comparative Dictionary. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  9. ^ Early, John (2009). Know your New Zealand ... native insects & spiders. New Holland. p. 120. ISBN 9781869662530.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference catlife was invoked but never defined (see the help page).