Culicoides (Diphaomyia) salihi Khalaf, 1954

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 : 58-59

Culicoides (Diphaomyia) salihi Khalaf (new status)

( Fig. 77, 78 , 130, 213, 252, 269)

Culicoides salihi Khalaf, 1952a: 351 (female; male genitalia; fig. male genitalia, parameres, female antenna, palpus, seasonal incidence; Oklahoma).

Culicoides (Oecacta) salihi: Khalaf 1954: 43 (male genitalia; assignment to Haematopotus group of subgenus Oecacta ). Fox 1955: 254 (key and diagnoses of subgenera; species key; taxonomy). Wirth and Bottimer 1956: 263 (Texas ecology). Khalaf 1957: 201, 206 (diagnosis; Oklahoma distribution; June, July; fig. Oklahoma distribution). Wirth et al. 1985: 38 (numerical characters; Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, California; fig. female wing).

Diagnosis. ( Tables 14, 15) Light yellowish brown; small, wing length <1 mm; wing pattern of faint pale plots, but reduced; r 2 dark; pale spots not straddling M 1, absent distally from r 3, m 1, m 2; mandible with nine tiny teeth, half normal size; palpal sensory pit enlarged internally; two subequal sclerotized ovoid spermathecae, with slender sclerotized necks ~0.3 as long as the spermathecae, and heavily sclerotized ring on the spermathecal duct; male tergite 9 apicolateral processes projecting, pointed; ventral apodeme of gonocoxite with two widely divergent processes, footlike, posterior process appearing appressed against gonocoxite, difficult to see; basal arms of aedeagus each with spurlike process on posterior margin, median process of aedeagus with a median pair of lateral hyaline posterior-projecting points, aedeagal ratio ~0.45; parameres separate, moderately slender and tapering, without submedian lobe, with subapical fringe of spines and slender pointed tip.

Distribution. California, Utah (Garfield County, new state record), Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas.

Adult behavior. The mandibular and lacinial teeth on the female indicate it feeds on vertebrate blood; and though its hosts are unknown, the SCo presence on only the proximal flagellomeres suggests it is mammalophilic.

Its week 17 and week 43 data in Table 5 represent the earliest and latest collection dates (27 April and 23 October) in south-central Texas ( Wirth and Bottimer 1956), a warmer climate. Hence, this range probably represents a much wider season of activity than would be likely in Utah.

Remarks. Khalaf (1954) placed this species in the Haematopotus group (now part of subgenus Diphaomyia ). The combination of narrowly separated eyes, long-necked spermathecae, sclerotized ring, paired submedian posterior processes on the basal aedeagal arms, and paramere with a fringe of spines suggest assignment to the subgenus Diphaomyia . However, C. salihi lacks the distinct hooklike posterior process of the ventral apodeme of the gonocoxite and the submedian lobe on the paramere characteristic of the Haematopotus group; thus, its placement in that group is incorrect.

However, the posterior process of the ventral apodeme of the gonocoxite is relatively reduced in the Baueri group of subgenus Diphaomyia . Cochrane (1973: 314), in his description of C. bergi , states the posterior “heel” of the ventral apodeme on the gonocoxite is “abbreviated, in some specimens not apparent”. Similarly, on C. salihi , this heel process is ventro-posteriorly aimed, overlapping the medial side of the gonocoxite and difficult to see, often appearing as only a dark sclerotization on the gonocoxite ( Fig. 78 ). In addition, both C. bergi and C. salihi have a pair of pointed hyaline processes on the median process of the aedeagus and lack submedian lobes on the parameres. Hence, because Cochrane described C. bergi from a subset of C. baueri , which is the type species for the subgenus Diphaomyia , I propose inclusion of C. salihi in subgenus Diphaomyia (new status).

Subgenus Drymodesmyia Vargas

The species of the subgenus Drymodesmyia are some of the more difficult to identify. The only key to the Nearctic species was Wirth and Hubert (1960), which relied heavily on somewhat variable wing patterns and occasionally on spermathecal or ambiguous male genitalia characteristics. I have attempted to clarify some of the ambiguity; however, for several species, a best-fit determination using several characters must be used; and then, sometimes only a tentative identification can be made. Current research using molecular methods at the University of California at Riverside (Xinmi Zhang, personal communication) may solve this problem.

So far as is known, the Nearctic Drymodesmyia use either treeholes ( C. byersi and C. hinmani ) or cactus rot holes (the other species) for their larval habitats. Culicoides byersi replaces the common eastern North American treehole species, C. hinmani , in similar treehole habitats in the southwestern United States. However, treeholes wet enough for larval development are lacking in the arid areas of the southwest except in relatively uncommon and isolated riparian, spring-fed, and other areas with sufficient water for trees to maintain moist treeholes. It seems likely that occupation of cactus rot holes is a relatively recent adaptation to the increasingly dry climate. This and the frequent occupation of rot holes of the same cactus species by different Drymodesmyia species ( Wirth and Hubert 1960; Ryckman 1960) suggests that their morphological similarity may be due to interbreeding and incomplete speciation. A good summary of the biology of the cactiphilic species is provided by Ryckman (1960).

Figures

Figures 73–78. Male genitalia of Culicoides subgenus Diphaomyia, ventral view. 73) C. defoliarti-haematopotus, focused on aedeagus (A), paramere (P). 74) C. defoliarti-haematopotus, focused on ventral apodemes of gonocoxites (Gcva) and median lobes on parameres (Pml). 75) C. inyoensis, posterior projections on basal arms of aedeagus circled.76) C. erikae, median lobes on parameres circled.77) C. salihi, focused on aedeagus and parameres, posterior projections on basal arms of aedeagus (App). 78) C. salihi, focused on posterior portion of ventral apodemes of gonocoxites, circled.