23. Anopheles (Anopheles) messeae Falleroni, 1926 (Fig. 4E) Published source: Kirik et al. (2020: 5). Voucher material: 1♀, Punaküla (58° 20′ 9″ N, 25° 20′ 4″ E), 31.V.–03.VI.2018, H. Kirik leg., H. Kirik det., Mosquito Magnet trap, IZBE0210221, GenBank: OK465170; 1♀, Tartu (58° 21′ 26″ N, 26° 42′ 60″ E), 04.IX.2017, T. Kesküla leg., H. Kirik det., sweep net, IZBE0210222, GenBank: OK465171; 1♀, Tartu (58° 21′ 13″ N, 26° 40′ 45” E), 17.IX.2017, T. Kesküla leg., H. Kirik det., sweep net, IZBE0210223, GenBank: OK465172. Comment: Anopheles messeae belongs to the An. maculipennis complex. Based on COI sequences, 17 mosquitoes among 20 specimens of the complex subjected to genetic analyses were identified as An. messeae or An. daciae Linton, Nicolescu & Harbach, 2004 (in Nicolescu et al. 2004). This indicates that An. messeae / daciae most likely make up the majority of the 215 (0.9% of all specimens collected) specimens of the complex collected in this study. Anopheles messeae and An. daciae are difficult to distinguish based on COI sequences at this time, but the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region of one Estonian An. messeae specimen was sequenced in a previous study (Kirik et al. 2020). All in all, individuals belonging to the An. maculipennis complex could be found from May to October, but were more numerous in August. The abundance of mosquitoes of the complex may be underestimated in this study due to collection bias.

Published as part of Kirik, Heli, Tummeleht, Lea & Kurina, Olavi, 2022, Rediscovering the mosquito fauna (Diptera: Culicidae) of Estonia: an annotated checklist with distribution maps and DNA evidence, pp. 261-287 in Zootaxa 5094 (2) on page 271, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5094.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5965149