Culicoides owyheensis Jones and Wirth

Phillips, Robert A., 2022, Culicoides Latreille and Leptoconops Skuse biting midges of the southwestern United States with emphasis on the Canyonlands of southeastern Utah (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Insecta Mundi 2022 (907), pp. 1-214 : 114

Culicoides owyheensis Jones and Wirth

Culicoides owyheensis Jones and Wirth, 1978: 57 (misspelled as owyheenis; key; female; Idaho). Wirth et al. 1985: 36 (numerical characters; fig. female wing).

Diagnosis. ( Tables 14, 15, 17, 18) Brown with some yellow; wing without pattern of pale spots (as in Fig. 3 C . stonei); two sclerotized ovoid spermathecae and fingerlike vestigial third (as in Fig. 45 C . stonei); posterior portion of female sternite 8 cleft, with blunt submedian posterior projections (as in Fig. 45 C . stonei); ventroposterior membrane of male sternite 9 spiculate; aedeagus Y-shaped, median process stout, short, blunt, half as long as basal arms; parameres separate, simple, apex curved hooklike (as in Fig. 41 C . mortivallis). To distinguish from C. mortivallis , ratios to length of flagellomere 9:>1.50 for flagellomeres 7+8,>3.95 for proboscis,>1.90 for palpal segment 3.

Distribution. Idaho (Owyhee County), Utah (Grand County).

Adult behavior. R. H. Jones and H. W. Potter Jr. collected females from the ear of a sheep prostrate with bluetongue in Idaho ( Jones and Wirth 1978). However, I think that C. owyheensis may be a junior synonym of C. mortivallis , and the record may be for that species.

Remarks. Using the measurement ratios from Wirth and Jones (1978: 57), 2 of 17 specimens recognized as either C. owyheensis or C. mortivallis based on SCo pattern were identified as C. owyheensis ( Table 18). See also Stonei group discussion.

Figures

Figures 3–8. Female wings with cells (lower case) and veins (upper case) labeled. 3) Culicoides stonei. 4) C. atchleyi (Bonneville County, ID). 5) Leptoconops torrens. Female abdomen, ventral view. 6) L. torrens. 7) C. stonei. 8) L. californiensis, dorsal habitus (in alcohol, Yuma County, AZ [Carl Olson, with permission]).

Figures 41–45. Male genitalia of Culicoides, ventral view, gonocoxite (Gc), gonostylus (Gs), paramere (P), aedeagus (A), apicolateral processes of tergite 9 (T9alp), sternite 9 (S9). 41) C. mortivallis. 42) C. werneri (paratype, Pima County, AZ [FSCA]). 43) C. bottimeri. Spermathecae, rudimentary third spermatheca (rsp), sternite 8 (S8), sternite 9 (S9). 44) C. bottimeri. 45) C. stonei.