Leptoconops (Brachyconops) californiensis Wirth and Atchley

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 : 18

Leptoconops (Brachyconops) californiensis Wirth and Atchley

( Fig. 8 )

Leptoconops (Brachyconops) californiensis Wirth and Atchley, 1973: 16 (subgenus Brachyconops Wirth and Atchley ; designated L. californiensis as type species; key; female, male; fig. female antenna, palpus, hind tarsomere 5, wing, spermathecae, hind tibial comb, fore tarsomeres 1–2, male palpus, antenna, hind tarsomere 5, genitalia; California). Mullens et al. 1997a (biology; discussion of relationship to other Leptoconops subgenera; California, Sonora). Turner and Olson 2005 (biology; fig. adult female; Arizona).

Diagnosis. ( Table 13) Head and thorax blackish, abdomen mostly yellow with a little brown; femora and tibiae dark brown; tarsomeres pale; eyes bare; palpal segment 3 sensory pit as deep as wide, broadening internally on female (as in Fig. 11 L . knowltoni). Female: antenna with 12 flagellomeres; fore tarsomeres 1–2 with stout black ventral spines; claw with basal tooth; two ovoid spermathecae, third absent; cerci short, wider than long. Male: outer tarsal claw with basal process ~0.7 as long as claw; tergite 9 evenly tapering to pair of small submedian lobes and prominent widely separated fingerlike apicolateral processes, which are ~4× longer than wide and separated by a distance ~0.6 their length (as in Fig. 14 L . werneri); aedeagus a single median rodlike sclerite between basal portion of gonocoxites; distal sclerite of paramere ~5× longer than wide, apex bifurcate with thin medial point and shorter caudal point.

Distribution. Sandy deserts of Southern California, Arizona, Sonora.

Adult behavior. Leptoconops californiensis has been collected feeding on lizards inhabiting desert dune ecosystems during 0900–1200 hours of March, April, May, and October, though humans “in close proximity to the lizards” were not attacked ( Mullens et al. 1997a). Hosts were the zebra-tailed lizard ( Callisaurus draconoides Cope , Phrynosomatidae ), Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard ( Uma inornata Cope , Phrynosomatidae ), Mojave fringe-toed lizard ( U. scoparia Cope , Phrynosomatidae ), flat-tailed horned lizard ( Phrynosoma mcallii Hallowell , Phrynosomatidae ) ( Mullens et al. 1997a), Yuman Desert fringe-toed lizard ( U. rufopunctata Cope , Phrynosomatidae ) ( Mullens et al. 1997a; Turner and Olson 2005), desert iguana ( Dipsosaurus dorsalis Baird and Girard , Iguanidae ), and desert horned lizard ( Phrynosoma platyrhinos Girard , Phrynosomatidae ) ( Turner and Olson 2005).

Symbionts. Wiesenborn (2003) collected eight male and eight female L. californiensis from flowers of the rare parasitic dune-inhabiting Pholisma sonorae (Torrey ex Gray) Yatskievych (Boraginaceae) during 0600–2000 hours from 18 April to 4 May. Collection period air temperatures were 28–39 °C. No other pollinators were observed before 24 April, and 11 of the 16 specimens had substantial P. sonorae pollen loads, suggesting the midge is a critical pollinator for the imperiled plant and should be conserved.

Subgenus Holoconops Kieffer

Holoconops Kieffer, 1918: 135 (as genus).

Microconops Kieffer, 1921: 108 (as genus).

Figures

Figures 3–8. Female wings with cells (lower case) and veins (upper case) labeled. 3) Culicoides stonei. 4) C. atchleyi (Bonneville County, ID). 5) Leptoconops torrens. Female abdomen, ventral view. 6) L. torrens. 7) C. stonei. 8) L. californiensis, dorsal habitus (in alcohol, Yuma County, AZ [Carl Olson, with permission]).

Figures 9–15. 9) Leptoconops americanus female clypeus, setae (s). 10) L. knowltoni female clypeus. 11) L. knowltoni female palpal segment 3. 12) L. carteri female palpal segment 3 (Yolo County, CA). 13) L. werneri female tarsomeres 4–5 and claw (paratype, Imperial County, CA [UCRC]). 14) L. werneri male genitalia, ventral view, tergite 9 apicolateral processes (T9alp), meso-posterior lobe setae (s) (Riverside County, CA [UCRC]). 15) L. belkini male genitalia, ventral view, tergite 9 sclerotized lobe (L) (Riverside County, CA [UCRC]).