Ceratoculicoides sp. F

Fasbender, Andrew, 2023, Revision of the New World Ceratoculicoides Wirth & Ratanaworabhan (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae, Ceratopogonini), European Journal of Taxonomy 875, pp. 159-202 : 191

Ceratoculicoides sp. F 1

Fig. 12d

Diagnosis

Male

Currently unknown.

Female

Only species of Ceratoculicoides with the following combination of characters: femora and tibiae yellow, wing length ~ 1.2 mm; 2 major spermathecae, largest 56–66; medial margin of 9 th sternite deeply concave.

Material examined

COLOMBIA • 1 ♀; Magdalena, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park , El Ramo ; 10.8° N, 73.65° W; 15 Oct.–1 Nov. 2000; J. Cantillo leg.; CNCI • 1 ♀; Vichada, PNN Tuparro , Bosque Sabana ; 5.35° N, 67.85° W; 29 Nov.–8 Dec. 2000; W. Villalba leg.; CNCI .

Description

Female

MEASUREMENTS (n = 2). Head width (n = 1) 286; flagellomeres 29–33, 17–22, 23–24, 24–25, 26–29, 27–33, 30–33, 33, 45–50, 44–46, 49–51, 41–55, 64–69; AR 1.11–1.12; FR (n = 1) 1.62; wing length 1157–1200; wing width 414–444; costal ratio 0.56–0.57; spermathecal length 56–66; spermathecal width 56–57; spermathecal neck 17–18; spermatheca/neck ratio 0.3–0.32.

THORAX. Legs with femora and tibiae yellow.

GENITALIA ( Fig. 12d ). 9 th sternite anterior branch subacute, apices rounded, widely separated; posterior branch base directed anteriorly, apical half curving posteromedially, tip subacute. 2 major spermathecae.

Distribution

Magdalena, Vichada ( Colombia) ( Fig. 13 ).

Remarks

This provisional species may be conspecific with C.virginianus , as there are no morphological characters which separate them in the female stage. I have refrained from assigning these specimens to that species until the male life stage for the Colombian material is collected. This species can be differentiated from all other species besides C.virginianus by the spermathecal length being <70 μm and concave medial margin of the 9 th sternite having the posterior branch straight basally, tapering and curving only in its distal portion ( Fig. 12d ).

Figures

Fig. 12. Female sternite 9 II. a. Ceratoculicoides pacificus sp. nov., paratype (CNCI), Carmanah Valley, British Columbia, Canada.b. C. pacificus paratype (CNCI), East Sooke Peak, British Columbia, Canada. c. C.virginianus (Wirth, 1951), Springwater Conservation Area, Ontario, Canada. d. Ceratoculicoides sp. F1, Tuparro National Park, Colombia. e. Ceratoculicoides sp. F2, Tuparro National Park, Colombia. f. Ceratoculicoides sp. F3, Rincon, Costa Rica. Linework has been added to make sternite 9 easier to discern. Scale bars = 100 μm.

Fig. 13. Distribution. a. Western North America. Solid star =Ceratoculicoides aliciae Huerta & Borkent, 2005; solid circles = C.borkenti sp. nov.; open triangles = C.grogani sp. nov.; open star = C. longipennis (Wirth, 1952); open square = C. pacificus sp. nov.; solid triangle = C.propinquus sp. nov.; solid cross C. sp. M1. b. Eastern North America. Solid circles = C. confusus sp. nov.; open squares = C.virginianus (Wirth, 1951). c. Central and northern South America. Solid circle = C.confusus; open squares = C. sp. F1; open triangles = C. sp. F2; solid triangle = C. sp. F3.