Ascogregarina geniculati sp. n. (Protozoa, Apicomplexa) from the Mosquito Aedes geniculatus

Abstract

Ascogregarina geniculati sp. n. (Protozoa, Apicomplexa, Eugregarinorida, Lecudinidae) is described from the mosquito Aedes geniculatus (Olivier) from Sardinia. Its gamonts are in the intestine of the mosquito larvae and its gametocysts and oocysts in the Malpighian tubules of the pupae and adults. The gamonts average 175 X 31 ,um, the gametocysts 77 Am in diameter, and the oocysts 13 X 5 jm. This species differs from other members of the genus in oocyst size and normal host species. Ross (1895) first saw gregarines of the genus Ascogregarina in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti (L.) in India. He called them Gregarina culicidis, but later (1898) emended this name to Gregarina culicis. Wenyon (1911) transferred this species to the genus Lankesteria, Grasse (1953) to Ascocystis, and Ward, Levine, and Craig (1982) to the genus Ascogregarina. The genus Lankes- teria originally contained gregarines from ascid- ians, Diptera, and turbellarians, but Ormieres (1965) restricted it to gregarines from ascidians and accepted Ascocystis for the dipteran species. Unfortunately, this name had previously been used by Bather (1889) for a fossil crinoid echi-