Culicoides crucifer Clastrier, 1968

Spinelli, Gustavo R., Ronderos, Maria M. & Díaz, Florentina, 2021, Two new species and new records of Neotropical Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Zootaxa 4915 (3), pp. 401-410 : 406

Culicoides crucifer Clastrier

( Figs. 13–18 )

Culicoides crucifer Clastrier, 1968: 85 (male, female; French Guiana); Wirth 1974: 29 (in catalog species south of USA); Aitken et al. 1975: 118 ( Trinidad records); Vitale et al. 1981: 147 (in key of the C. debilipalpis group); Wirth et al. 1988: 46 (in wing atlas of species south of USA); Borkent & Wirth 1997: 66 (in World catalog); Borkent & Spinelli 2000: 31 (in catalog species south of USA); Trindade & Gorayeb 2005: 67 ( Brazil, Para records); Borkent & Spinelli 2007: 66 (in Neotropical catalog); Silva et al. 2010: 71 ( Brazil, Pará records); Ronderos et al. 2013: 49 (pupa, Amazonas records); Borkent & Dominiak 2020: 112 (in World catalog).

Diagnosis. The only Neotropical species of the subgenus C. (Haematomyidium) with the following combination of characters: females with flagellomeres 4–12 subequal in length; sensilla coeloconica on flagellomeres 1, 6–8; palpal segment 3 slender with broad shallow pit; poststigmatic pale spots in r 3 separated; cell m 1 with two pale spots, distal one well separated from wing margin; cell m 2 with pale spot posterior to medial fork and no trace of pale spot anterior to cubital fork; macrotrichia present on distal half of cells r 3, m 1 and m 2, only few at extreme distal margin in cua 1 and anal cell, extending in one row to base of m 2. Male unknown.

Specimen examined. “ Argentina, Misiones, Posadas, Club San Francisco , 27°23’31.20”S, 55°55’59.37”W, 4-IX-2008, H. Walantus, CDC light trap ” ( MLPA) .

Main numerical characters of the specimen examined: AR: 0.66; PR: 3.34; P/H ratio 1.00; wing length: 0.90 mm; width: 0.42 mm; CR: 0.55; larger spermatheca: 62 by 42 μm, neck 12 μm; smaller spermatheca: 55 by 35 μm, neck10 μm.

Distribution. Trinidad, Guyana, French Guiana and Brazilian Amazonia (Amazonas, Pará), Argentina (Misiones).

Remarks. The examined specimen perfectly agrees with the original description.

Figures

FIGURES 13–18. Culicoides crucifer Clastrier, 1968. Female, 13–18. 13 head. 14 palpus. 15 legs. 16 wing. 17 abdomen. 18 detail of spermathecae. Scale bars = 0.05 mm.