Culicoides (Hoffmania) insignis Lutz, 1913

Huerta, Rodríguez, Ana M., William L. Grogan, Jr. & Ibáñez-Bernal, Sergio, 2012, New records of biting midges of the genus Culicoides Latreille from Mexico (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Insecta Mundi 2012 (211), pp. 1-20 : 12

Culicoides (Hoffmania) insignis Lutz

Culicoides insignis Lutz, 1913: 51 ( Brazil) .

Culicoides (Hoffmania) insignis: Fox, 1948: 25 (in new subgenus Hoffmania ).

Culicoides inamollae Fox and Hoffman, 1944: 110 ( Puerto Rico).

Culicoides painter Fox, 1946: 257 ( Honduras) .

Discussion. This primarily Neotropical species occurs in the southeastern USA in Alabama, Georgia and Florida ( Borkent and Grogan 2009), and in Mexico south through Central America to central Argentina, and in the Caribbean region ( Borkent and Spinelli 2007). It was previously known in Mexico from Chiapas and Yucatán ( Macfie 1948, Blanton and Wirth 1979, Borkent and Spinelli 2007); we provide the first records from Tabasco and Veracruz. Culicoides insignis is one of three possible vectors of bluetongue in the Neotropical Region ( Sáenz and Greiner 1994; Borkent 2005).

New records. Tabasco, Villahermosa, Zoológico Central, 23 December 2008 - 8 January 2009, A. Villanueva, Malaise trap, 2 males, 4 females. Veracruz, Actopan , Arroyo Agrío , 14 February 2008, Entomological brigade JS IV, Malaise trap, 1 female ; same data except 16 April 2010, CDC UV trap, 1 female ; Teocelo, Texin , 3 September 2008, Entomological brigade JS IV, Malaise trap, 1 female ; Atzalan, Plan de Arroyos , 19 May 2009, Entomological brigade JS IV, CDC trap, 1 female ; Alto Lucero, Arroyo Agrío , 2 September 2009, Entomological brigade JS IV, CDC trap, 3 females ; same data except 5 September 2008, Malaise trap, 6 females, 15 males ; same data except CDC trap, 4 males ; Juchique de Ferrer, Los Arroyos , 4 September 2008, Entomological brigade JS IV, CDC trap, 1 female ; Misantla, Paso Blanco , 23 February 2010, Entomological brigade JS IV, Malaise trap, 1 female .