Culicoides chewaclae Glick and Mullen

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 : 107-108

Culicoides chewaclae Glick and Mullen

(Fig. 234)

Culicoides chewaclae Glick and Mullen, 1983: 378 (female; fig. antenna, palpus, eye separation, mandible, legs, tibial comb, spermathecae, wing; Alabama). Wirth et al. 1985: 22 (numerical characters; fig. female wing).

Diagnosis. ( Tables 14, 15) Dark Brown; wing pattern indistinct; r 2 dark; isolated pale spots straddling midportions of M 1 and M 2; distal pale spots faint in r 3, m 1, m 2; flagellomeres 9–10 normal, each larger than 8; SCo pattern 1, 3, 5, 7, (8), (9), (10), 11–13; combined length of flagellomeres 7+8 greater than 9; proboscis short, ratio 0.61; labrum without apical median projection; scutellum with 12 setae on female; fore and hind tarsomeres without apical spines; spermathecae unequal by ~1.3, sclerotized necks absent; sclerotized ring on spermathecal duct; male unknown, but genitalia should be similar to those of other Piliferus group species.

Distribution. California, Oregon, Utah (San Juan County, new state record), Maryland, South Carolina ( Swanson 2012), Alabama, Florida ( Quaglia et al. 2020). Apparently an uncommon but widely distributed species across temperate North America. A single female was collected with UVLT on 15 August 2019 in the La Sal Mountains in San Juan County, Utah, at 38.41373°N 109.22369°W at 2894 m elevation.

Adult behavior. The mandibular and lacinial teeth on the female indicate it feeds on vertebrate blood; and though its hosts are unknown, C. chewaclae is a member of the Piliferus group, generally considered ornithophilic ( Wirth and Hubert 1962). Quaglia et al. (2020) report collecting C. chewaclae with UVLTs only during weeks 15–19 in Florida; whereas, collections in other states at higher latitudes and elevations have been made during weeks 17, 18, 25, 29, and 33 (Table 5).

Remarks. Culicoides chewaclae is most similar to Culicoides Piliferus group species A and B but has smaller antennal and proboscis ratios ( Table 14). See also Piliferus group species A, B, and unplaced species F remarks.