Culicoides (Silvicola) cockerellii (Coquillett)

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 : 90-91

Culicoides (Silvicola) cockerellii (Coquillett)

( Fig. 66 , 119 , 178, 287)

Ceratopogon cockerellii Coquillett, 1901: 603 (key; female; Colorado).

Culicoides cockerellii (Coquillett) : Kieffer 1906: 54 (combination). Hoffman 1925: 293 (key; female; fig. wing, mesonotum). Root and Hoffman 1937: 157 (key). James 1943: 149 (seasonal distribution; male genitalia; Colorado). Knowlton and Fronk 1950: 114 (Utah: Cache, Duchesne, Kane, Uintah counties). Wirth 1951: 81 (male key, genitalia from Wyoming material; female misidentified, not C. cockerellii ). Wirth 1952a: 171 (in part; key; female, male; fig. dorsal thoracic patterns, female palpus, wing, male genitalia). Bullock 1952: 19 (female; male genitalia; Utah: Salt Lake County). Rees and Bullock 1954 (Utah: Salt Lake County). Foote and Pratt 1954: 18 (key; diagnosis; fig. female wing, mesonotum, palpus, male genitalia).

Culicoides (Culicoides) cockerellii: Khalaf 1954: 39 (assignment to subgenus Culicoides ). Fox 1955: 232 (key and diagnoses of subgenera; species key; taxonomy). Atchley 1967: 966 (in part; key; numerical characters; female; male genitalia; variation; fig. female wing, palpus, tibial comb, male genitalia, parameres). Wirth and Blanton 1969b: 214 (key; numerical characters; female, male; fig. female antenna, palpus, wing, eye separation, spermathecae, male genitalia, parameres). Wirth et al. 1985: 10 (numerical characters; fig. female wing).

Culicoides cockerellii variety b: Wirth 1952a: 172 (female; male genitalia).

Culicoides (Anilomyia) cockerellii: Vargas 1960: 37 (assignment to subgenus Anilomyia Vargas ). Atchley 1967: 968 (rejection of assignment to Anilomyia ).

Culicoides (Silvicola) cockerellii: Mirzaeva and Isaev 1990: 156 in English translation (as part of Cockerellii group, assignment to new subgenus Silvicola ).

Diagnosis. ( Tables 14, 15) Wing pattern extensive, with distal stripes and pale spots; pale spot over at least distal half of r 2; cua 1 without central dark spot; dark spot over r 1 –r 2 merged with spot over M fork; dark spot in distal half of r 3 barely medially constricted; eyes contiguous only at a point; superior transverse suture present; palpal segment 3 with scattered sensilla instead of pit; scutum with sub-lateral dark patches; tibiae without pale bands; fore and hind tarsomeres with apical spines; spermathecae subequal; male tergite 9 apicolateral processes tiny and not projecting beyond median lobe; ventral apodeme of gonocoxite shorter than dorsal apodeme, strongly tapered, pointed, 1–2× as long as basal width; gonocoxite with fine setae on mesal surface; aedeagus V-shaped, median process triangular, tapering, aedeagal ratio ~0.45; parameres separate, apices slender, posteriorly directed, with fringe of tiny hairs at tip.

Distribution. British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, south through Washington, Idaho (Blaine, Bonneville, Custer counties, new state record), Montana, North Dakota ( Anderson and Holloway 1993), Oregon, Nevada, Utah (Summit, Uintah counties), Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, to California, Arizona, New Mexico. Distribution records for C. cockerellii preceding Wirth and Blanton 1969b refer instead—at least in part—to C. freeborni , C. neofagineus , C. neomontanus , and C. sierrensis in the southwestern United States. It has been reported from the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, San Juan County, Utah (Boris Kondratieff, personal communication); however, the habitat characteristics of that area of the park suggest possible confusion with C. lahontan , and no specimens could be found for confirmation.

Adult behavior and vector potential. Known hosts are sheep ( Jones and Luedke 1969) and human ( Wirth and Blanton 1969b). Kramer et al. (1990) found C. cockerellii infected with bluetongue virus (BTV).

Remarks. Wirth and Blanton (1969b) redescribed C. cockerellii and five other species and described nine new Nearctic species of (then) subgenus Culicoides , five of which had been variants of C. cockerellii . In addition, they suggested C. cockerellii may be a synonym or part of a species complex with the Palearctic Culicoides grisescens Edwards.

Culicoides cockerellii is closely similar to C. sierrensis , differing mainly by not having a distinct basal pale band on the hind tibia. However, some Idaho and northern Utah specimens are ambiguous with regard to this character, suggesting the character is variable or the species interbreed. See also subgenus Silvicola discussion and C. neomontanus and C. sierrensis remarks.

The three female specimens collected 15 July 2019 in Custer County, Idaho, had eyes contiguous for 0.3 ommatidium diameter, contiguous at a point, and separated by 0.2 ommatidium diameter but were otherwise consistent with the morphology of C. cockerellii .

Figures

Figures 66–72. Male genitalia of Culicoides subgenus Silvicola, ventral view. 66) C. cockerellii (Bonneville County, ID). 67) C. freeborni (San Diego County, CA [BM]). 68) C. lahontan. 69) C. neofagineus (paratype, Mendocino County, CA [FSCA]). 70) C. neomontanus, basal and apical tips of aedeagus triangulated. 71) C. saltonensis (Imperial County, CA [FSCA]). 72) C. sierrensis (paratype, Modoc County, CA [FSCA]).

Figures 117–125. Male wings of Culicoides subgenera Avaritia and Silvicola. 117) C. boydi (in grayscale) (Riverside County, CA [BM]). 118) C. obsoletus (MD [FSCA]). 119) C. cockerellii (Bonneville County, ID). 120) C. freeborni (San Diego County, CA [BM]). 121) C. lahontan. 122) C. neofagineus (in grayscale) (paratype, Mendocino County, CA [FSCA]). 123) C. neomontanus. 124) C. saltonensis (Imperial County, CA [FSCA]). 125) C. sierrensis (paratype, Modoc County, CA [FSCA]).