Mosquito Taxonomy: Name Changes?

This memo is forwarded in full from ProMED-mail, id 20050503.1226:

> AEDES AEGYPTI AND OTHER MOSQUITOES: NAME CHANGES (02)
>
> Date: 2 May 2005
> From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
>
> Old and new classification of Aedes mosquitoes
> ----------------------------------------------
> Last year [2004] John F. Reinert et al. elevated 46 subgenera of aedine
> mosquitoes, many in the genus _Aedes_ , to generic status. The first 2
> authors are well-respected mosquito taxonomists while the 3rd is a
> taxonomist specialising in cladistics. The leading medical entomology
> journal in the UK, namely Medical and Veterinary Entomology, published
> a
> paper by J.M. Medlock et al. (2005, vol.19, 2-21) in which they
> recognised
> as currently valid the names _Stegomyia aegypti_ and _Stegomyia
> albopicta_,
> thus accepting the new classification of Reinert et al. (2004).
> Furthermore, several web sites began using the new classification of
> the
> aedine mosquitoes.
>
> As a consequence of the above, in a ProMED-mail post of 17 Mar 2005, I
> said
> that despite the fact that taxonomic name changes always caused
> confusion, I
> nevertheless believed ProMED should fall in line and adopt the new
> classification of Reinert et al. (2004).
>
> However, since then there has been much vigorous debate on the
> practical
> consequences of such name changes and challenges to the validity of the
> cladistics used in the Reinert et al. paper. After discussions with
> many
> mosquito experts, including taxonomists and editors of medical
> entomology
> journals, I have agreed to accept the consensus of their
> deliberations. That
> is, more research and interpretation of the Reinert et al. (2004)
> paper is
> needed, but in the meantime we should encourage use of the older
> classification and so maintain usage of the traditional names.
>
> Thus, ProMED favors using the older and more familiar names such as
> _Aedes
> aegypti_, but if a contributor really wishes to adopt the new
> classification, then the older name must be placed in parentheses
> after the
> 1st use of each new name. For example, _Stegomyia aegypti_ (=_Aedes
> aegypti_, see Reinert et al. 2004).
>
> To add to these problems, an earlier publication (Reinert 2000) raised
> the
> subgenus _Ochlerotatus_ of the genus _Aedes_ to generic status. This
> change
> was widely accepted, albeit somewhat grudgingly by some, and has been
> used
> in publications worldwide over the last 4 years. But the present
> proposal to
> return to the older classification means we need to return
> _Ochlerotatus_
> to subgeneric level, so for example it is no longer _Ochlerotatus
> triseriatus_ but once again _Aedes triseriatus_.
>
> We are much indebted to John D. Edman, editor of the Journal of Medical
> Entomology, for trying to get us all to agree on a strategy of
> promoting the
> use of the older classification. I understand that many journals --
> including the Journal of Medical Entomology, the American Journal of
> Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Annals of Tropical Medicine and
> Parasitology,
> Emerging Infectious Diseases, Journal of the American Mosquito Control
> Association, Journal of Vector Ecology, Medical and Veterinary
> Entomology,
> Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases -- will adopt the above strategy of
> promoting use of the older classification.
>
> Key references are :
>
> Reinert J. F. (2000). New classification for the composite genus
> _Aedes_
> (Diptera: Culicidae: Aedini), elevation of subgenus _Ochlerotatus_ to
> generic rank, reclassification of the other subgenera, and notes on
> certain
> subgenera and species. J. Am. Mosq. Control Assoc. 16: 175-188.
>
> Reinert JF, Harbach RE, Kitching IJ. 2004. Phylogeny and
> classification of
> Aedini (Diptera: Culicidae), based on morphological characters of all
> life
> stages. Zool. J. Linnean Soc. 142: 289-368.
>
> --
> Mike Service
> ProMED-mail Medical Entomology Moderator
> <mservice@liverpool.ac.uk>
>
> [see also
> Aedes aegypti and other mosquitoes: name changes 20050318.0781]
>
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Received on Wed May 4 09:40:50 2005