Culicoides (Amossovia) pecosensis Wirth, 1965

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 : 46-47

Culicoides (Amossovia) pecosensis Wirth

(Fig. 193)

Culicoides pecosensis Wirth, 1955: 358 (female; male genitalia; fig. female wing, mesonotum, palpus, male genitalia, parameres; Texas). Jones and Wirth 1958: 84 (key; diagnosis). Wirth and Blanton 1967: 228 (key; female; male genitalia; fig. female antenna, wing, palpus, eye separation, spermathecae, leg, male genitalia, parameres; rejection of placement in subgenus Oecacta ). Wirth et al. 1985: 20 (numerical characters; fig. female wing).

Culicoides (Glaphiromyia) pecosensis: Vargas 1960: 41 (assignment to subgenus Glaphiromyia Vargas ).

Culicoides (Oecacta) pecosensis: Wirth 1965: 130 (placement in subgenus Oecacta ). Atchley 1967: 1004 (key; female; male genitalia; fig. female wing, palpus, tibial comb, spermathecae, male genitalia, parameres).

Culicoides (Amossovia) pecosensis: Borkent and Grogan 2009: 12 (in Nearctic catalog).

Diagnosis. ( Tables 14, 15) Brown; wing pattern distinct; r 2 dark; distal pale spot in r 3 medially constricted and roughly 8-shaped; pale spots straddling at ~0.3 on M 1 and ~0.5 on M 2; CuA fork and CuA 1 and CuA 2 dark except at tips; pore of sensory pit on palpal segment 3>0.5 the diameter of segment (as in Fig. 247 C. californiensis ); pale band subapical on hind tibiae; ventral apodeme of gonocoxite simple; aedeagus Y-shaped, median process narrow, parallel-sided, truncate; parameres separate, apices simple, thick bladelike, pointed.

Distribution. New Mexico, Texas.

Adult behavior. The mandibular and lacinial teeth on the female indicate it feeds on vertebrate blood; however, its hosts are unknown.

Subgenus Avaritia Fox