Culicoides (Amossovia) beckae 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 : 3

Culicoides (Amossovia) beckae Wirth and Blanton

Culicoides beckae Wirth and Blanton, 1967: 213 (Florida) ; Gazeau and Messersmith 1970: 35 (Maryland record); Wirth et al. 1985: 20 (in Nearctic Wing Atlas).

Culicoides (Drymodesmyia) beckae: Battle and Turner 1971: 26 (Virginia records)

Culicoides (Oecacta) beckae: Blanton and Wirth 1979: 63 (Florida records; distribution); Wilkening et al. 1985: 522 (Florida records).

Culicoides (Amossovia) beckae: Borkent and Grogan 2009: 12 (in Nearctic catalog; distribution).

Discussion. Culicoides beckae is an uncommon species that closely resembles females of C. villosipennis Root and Hoffman and C. ousairani Khalaf , and males of C. arboricola Root and Hoffman. Culicoides beckae can be differentiated from these species by the female dark halteres and pale-banded hind femora, and more slender male parameres ( Wirth and Blanton 1967). This species utilizes tree-holes for larval development like most other species in the subgenus Amossovia Glukhova ( Lamberson et al. 1992) , and like other species in this subgenus, it is ornithophilic ( Garvin and Greiner 2003). This species inhabits the Coastal Plain from New York south to northern Florida and Alabama ( Blanton and Wirth 1979; Borkent and Grogan 2009). We provide the first records of C. beckae from Mississippi and Louisiana.

New State Records. LOUISIANA, Tensas Parish, Winnsboro , Big Lake Wildlife Management Area , 14 September 2012, 2 females. Caldwell Parish , Columbia , Boeuf Wildlife Management Area , 15 September 2012, 2 females. MISSISSIPPI, Adams Co., Garden City, Sandy Creek Wildlife Management Area , 25 September 2008, 1 female ; same data except 12 July 2010, 1 female. Franklin Co., Meadville, Caston Creek Wildlife Management Area , 10 August 2012, 1 female .