Culicoides (Wirthomyia) bottimeri Wirth

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 : 97-98

Culicoides (Wirthomyia) bottimeri Wirth

( Fig. 43, 44 , 293)

Culicoides bottimeri Wirth, 1955: 356 (female; male genitalia; female palpus, wing, male genitalia, parameres; Texas). Wirth and Bottimer 1956: 261 (seasonal distribution).

Culicoides (Wirthomyia) bottimeri: Vargas 1973: 112 (assignment to subgenus Wirthomyia ). Wirth et al. 1985: 34 (numerical characters; fig. female wing). Phillips et al. 2006: 48 (diagnosis, female, male; fig. female sternite 8, spermathecae, head, male tergite 9, genitalia; seasonal activity; Utah: Garfield, Grand counties; synonym: C. multidentatus ).

Culicoides multidentatus Atchley and Wirth, 1975: 1421 (female; fig. female eye separation, spermathecae, antenna, palpus; California). Wirth et al. 1985: 38 (numerical characters; fig. female wing).

Diagnosis. ( Tables 14, 15) Wing without pattern of pale spots ; two sclerotized ovoid unequal spermathecae, with vestigial third spherical or pyriform; posterior portion of female sternite 8 medially concave but not cleft, with pair of pointed submedian posterior projections; ventro-posterior membrane of male sternite 9 spiculate; gonocoxal ventral apodeme simple thin sinuous; aedeagus broadly U-shaped with median process only ~0.2 length of basal arms; parameres separate, apices are long curved heavily sclerotized serrated saberform blades. Distribution. California, Idaho (Bonneville County, new state record), Utah ( Garfield , Grand , Washington counties), Arizona, New Mexico, Texas. The Idaho collection of one female with UVLT on 14 July 2019 at 43.52974°N 111.18504°W and 2002 m elevation in the Snake River Range, is the northernmost record for this southwestern species .

Adult behavior and vector potential. Atchley and Wirth (1975) collected female C. bottimeri (as C. multidentatus ) from California quail ( Callipepla californica ). In addition, Weinmann et al. (1979) observed C. bottimeri (as C. multidentatus ) feeding on California quail primarily from 1–2 h after sunset until ~2400–0100 hours and collected and found them naturally infected with fully developed and infective Splendidofilaria californiensis , implicating C. bottimeri as the primary vector of this quail heartworm. Furthermore, Mullens et al. (2006) reported bobwhite quail ( Colinus virginianus ) as a likely host and provided experimental evidence for C. bottimeri also being the primary vector for the California quail malarial parasite, Haemoproteus lophortyx O’Roke.

Symbionts. The larval habitat for C. bottimeri is unknown; however, a female specimen collected in Grand County, Utah, was parasitized by a larval mite ( Table 10), which species may indicate its pupal habitat or oviposition site.

Remarks. The simultaneous Grand County collections of males identified as C. bottimeri and females initially identified as C. multidentatus provided the initial evidence for demoting C. multidentatus to junior synonym of C. bottimeri ( Phillips et al. 2006) .

Subgenus unplaced, Daedalus group

Figures

Figures 41–45. Male genitalia of Culicoides, ventral view, gonocoxite (Gc), gonostylus (Gs), paramere (P), aedeagus (A), apicolateral processes of tergite 9 (T9alp), sternite 9 (S9). 41) C. mortivallis. 42) C. werneri (paratype, Pima County, AZ [FSCA]). 43) C. bottimeri. Spermathecae, rudimentary third spermatheca (rsp), sternite 8 (S8), sternite 9 (S9). 44) C. bottimeri. 45) C. stonei.