Culicoides calexicanus Wirth and Rowley

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 : 102-103

Culicoides calexicanus Wirth and Rowley

( Fig. 90 , 144, 221, 223, 275, 285)

Culicoides calexicanus Wirth and Rowley, 1971: 156 (numerical characters; key; female, male; fig. female antenna, palpus, eye separation, spermathecae, male genitalia, parameres; California). Wirth et al. 1985: 26 (numerical characters; fig. female wing).

Diagnosis. ( Tables 14, 15) Wing pattern distinct and extensive; r 2 dark; prominent distal pale spots in r 3, m 1, m 2; scutellum yellowish, lighter than the brown scutum; fore and often hind tarsomeres with apical spines; spermathecae unequal by ~1.1, necks shorter than wide; ventral apodeme of gonocoxite simple; gonostylus about evenly curved, not abruptly bent, entire lateral contour convex; aedeagus V-shaped, median process tapering to tip ~0.2 as wide as basal arm spread; parameres separate, with abrupt ventro-lateral bend at ~0.8 and sharp tip often with divergent apical spines.

Distribution. California, Nevada, Utah (Grand, Washington counties, new state record). Evidently, C. calexicanus is an uncommon but wide-ranging species, having been reported by Wirth and Rowley (1971) from near sea level in Imperial County, California, and from ~ 2300 m elevation in the Humboldt Mountains of Elko County, Nevada.

Adult behavior. The mandibular and lacinial teeth on the female indicate it feeds on vertebrate blood; and the CO 2 - baited trap collection of the male suggests that males may seek hosts to find females for mating. Its week 14 collection datum in Table 5 is from Imperial County, California, a much warmer climate, representing much earlier activity than in Utah or Nevada .

Remarks. Some of the Palmerae group females that were not identified to species may be C. calexicanus . See C. palmerae and species C remarks.

Figures

Figures 88–93. Male genitalia of Culicoides, ventral view. 88) C. luglani, submedian processes of parameres circled. 89) C. crepuscularis, ventral apodeme of gonocoxite circled. 90) C. calexicanus, apices of parameres circled, apex of aedeagus delineated. 91) C. hawsi (paratype, Modoc County, CA [FSCA]). 92) C. palmerae, sharp lateral shoulders on median process of aedeagus indicated (A). 93) C. utahensis.