Niphanohelea

Borkent, Art, 2024, The Phylogeny of the Genera of Biting Midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) of the World, Zootaxa 5438 (1), pp. 1-274 : 236

Niphanohelea :

- Female with hind tarsomere 5 swollen. This feature is unique in the Culicomorpha. The male of this monotypic genus is unknown and it is therefore uncertain if it is true of both sexes. This autapomorphy was originally proposed by Grogan & Wirth (1981a).

- Female wing strongly modified ( Figs. 78D–E ). This autapomorphy was originally described by Grogan & Wirth (1981a) as “great displacement of vein R 4+5, its apical fusion with M 1, and the absence of the r-m crossvein”. They consider a vein arising near the apex of M 1 to be adventitious. As illustrated in Borkent (2004), I consider it more likely r-m has been retained but moved from a near midlength position to near the apex of the wing ( Figs. 78A–D ). As such I interpret the veins with any loss or addition as follows: their M 1 distal to the base of the adventitious vein is actually r-m and their adventitious vein is the apical portion of M 1. The thinner, apical portion of M 1 as identified here is of similar thickness to M 2 ( Fig. 78E ), supporting the idea that M 1 is not an “adventitious” vein. In Ceratopogonidae , M 1 and M 2 are both significantly thinner than R 3 ( Figs. 45A–J ). As such, the basal portion of M 1 being as thick as R 3 is also unique in the family. The R 4+5 identified by Grogan & Wirth (1981a) is more recently understood to actually be R 3 ( Szadziewski 1996). The wing is discussed further under “Previous Phylogenetic Analyses”.

Figures

FIGURE 45. Wings of female Ceratopogonidae, in dorsal view. A. Atrichopogon (Psilokempia) sp. B. Culicoides insignis. C. Ceratopogon culicoidithorax Hoffman. D. Stilobezzia lutea (Malloch). E. Parabezzia petiolata. F. Clinohelea bimaculata. G. Mallochohelea smithi (Lewis). H. Jenkinshelea magnipennis. I. Macropeza natalensis. J. Palpomyia plebeja (Loew). (A–H, J from Downes & Wirth 1981, I from de Meillon & Wirth 1991).

FIGURE 78. A. Generalized wing of higher Ceratopogonidae based on Nilobezzia yasumatsui Wirth & Ratanaworabhan (from Wirth & Ratanaworabhan 1981b, Fig 2C). B. Theoretical evolutionary step showing distally displaced r-m. C. Theoretical evolutionary step showing r-m displaced further distally. D. Wing of Niphanohelea (from Grogan & Wirth 1981: Fig. 1A; their M1 and “adventitious vein” are interpreted here as r-m and M1, respectively).