Culicoides (Oecacta) barbosai Wirth and Blanton

Vigil, Wlodkowski, John C., Joshua, Vargas, Shaw, David, Christopher, William L. Grogan, Jr. & Corn, Joseph L., 2014, New records of biting midges of the genus Culicoides Latreille from the southeastern United States (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Insecta Mundi 2014 (394), pp. 1-14 : 9

Culicoides (Oecacta) barbosai Wirth and Blanton

Culicoides barbosai Wirth and Blanton, 1956b: 161 ( Panama; Bahamas, Ecuador, Florida).

Culicoides (Oecacta) barbosai: Vargas 1960: 44 (in review of New World subgenera of Culicoides ); Blanton and Wirth 1979: 58 (Florida records; distribution); Wirth et al. 1985: 28 (in Nearctic Wing Atlas ; distribution) ; Wilkening et al. 1985: 521 (Florida records); Borkent and Grogan 2009: 15 (in Nearctic catalog; distribution) .

Discussion. Culicoides barbosai is a coastal, primarily Neotropical species that has been recorded throughout the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America ( Borkent and Spinelli 2007). It is very similar to the related C. (O.) furens (Poey) , and was confused with that species until it was described by Wirth and Blanton (1956b). The wing of C. barbosai lacks the small circular pale spot found on C. furens , located distad of the large pale spot beyond the apex of the costal vein. It is a serious pest in some coastal communities of Florida and the Caribbean, as females readily and frequently bite humans ( Linley and Davies 1971). It is typically associated with mangrove swamps, coral, coquina, and sandy beaches, and brackish tidal marsh habitats in Florida ( Blanton and Wirth 1979). In North America, it has only been reported from Florida ( Wilkening et al. 1985; Borkent and Grogan 2009), but present as far north as Duval County on the extreme northeastern Atlantic coast and Bay County on the Gulf coast ( Blanton and Wirth 1979; Cilek and Kline 2002). We provide the first record of C. barbosai from Georgia in Dooly County, located in the southwestern interior portion of that state. This specimen was trapped at a site along the Flint River, a major tributary of the Apalachicola River which has a broad delta on the Gulf of Mexico in northwestern Florida. We also include several new county records of C. barbosai from Florida.

New State Record. GEORGIA, Dooly Co., Vienna, Flint River WMA, 6 August 2012, 2 females.

New Florida County Records. FLORIDA, Charlotte Co., Punta Gorda , Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park , 8 June 2009, 3 females ; same data except 9 June 2009, 1 female ; Port Charlotte, Tippecanoe Environmental Park , 6 June 2011, 1 female. De Soto Co., Arcadia, 22 April 2008, 3 females. Hendry Co. , Clewiston, 18 June 2008, 1 male. Pasco Co. , New Port Richey , Starkey Wilderness Preserve, 12 June 2011, 1 female .