Description of the male of Culicoides pampaensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Descripción del macho de Culicoides pampaensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Spinelli, Gustavo R. and María M. Ronderos

División Entomología, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina; e-mail: spinelli@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar; ronderos@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar

RESUMEN. Se describe e ilustra el macho de Culicoides pampaensis, y se brinda una diagnosis de la hembra. El ejemplar descripto fue capturado a la luz junto a una hembra, en la provincia de Catamarca, Argentina. La genitalia se compara con la de Culicoides bambusicola Lutz.

PALABRAS CLAVE. Culicoides pampaensis. Macho. Argentina.

ABSTRACT. The male of Culicoides pampaensis Spinelli & Wirth is described and illustrated and female diagnosis is also provided. The described male specimen was captured at light, associated with a female, in Catamarca province, Argentina. Male genitalia of Culicoides pampaensis and Culicoides bambusicola Lutz are compared.

KEY WORDS. Culicoides pampaensis. Male. Argentina.

INTRODUCTION

The biting midge Culicoides pampaensis Spinelli & Wirth is presently known by only three female specimens. The species was originally described by Spinelli & Wirth (1984) from a single specimen captured while it was biting a human in Colonia 25 de Mayo, La Pampa province, Argentina. The second specimen was also collected biting man in Cafayate, Salta province, and this record was published by Ronderos & Spinelli (2002). The third specimen was captured at light at the type-locality, and its record was not formally published.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the male of C. pampaensis, providing as well a female diagnosis. The described specimen was recently collected at light associated with female in the archaelogical site El Shincal, in Catamarca province.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Terms for structures follow those used in the Manual of Nearctic Diptera (McAlpine et al., 1981) and in Spinelli & Borkent (2004). Terms for wing veins follow the modifications proposed by Szadziewski (1996). The specimens examined are slide mounted in Canada balsam and deposited in the collection of the Museo de La Plata, Argentina (MLP).

RESULTS

Culicoides pampaensis

Spinelli & Wirth, 1984 (Figs.1-5)

Culicoides pampaensis Spinelli & Wirth, 1984: 182 (female; Argentina, La Pampa prov.); Spinelli & Wirth, 1986: 52 (in key; wing photo); Wirth et al., 1988: 50 (wing photo); Spinelli & Wirth,1993: 35 (Argentina, in list); Borkent & Wirth, 1997: 77 (in World catalog); Borkent & Spinelli, 2000: 32 (in neotropical catalog); Ronderos & Spinelli, 2002: 91, 94 (in key; record from Salta prov.); Spinelli et al., 2005: 138, 142 (in key; wing photo).

Female diagnosis. A medium-sized species distinguished by the eyes bare, narrowly separated; AR 0.84-0.97; sensilla coeloconica on flagellomeres 1, 6-8; third palpal segment with broad, shallow pit; mandible with 12-13 teeth; P/H ratio 0.90-0.96; wing with poststigmatic pale spots faint, not abutting vein M 1; other faint pale spots at base of cell m 1, and in cell cua 1 and anal cell; cells r3, m 1 and m 2 without distal pale spots; CR 0.53; halter whitish. Two ovoid spermathecae, plus a vestigial third and sclerotized ring.

Description of male. Similar to female with usual sexual differences. Head (Fig. 1) dark brown. Eyes bare, forming a V shaped where they contact. Antennae with flagellomeres 1-10 pale, 11-13 brown. Third palpal segment cylindrical, with broad shallow sensory pit. Thorax uniformly dark brown except the legs slightly paler; scutellum with 3-4 setae and fine hairs. Wing length 0.87 mm, pattern as in Fig. 2; CR 0.48.

Figs. 1-2. Culicoides pampaensis, male. 1. head. 2. wing.

Genitalia (Figuras 3-5). Tergite 9 moderately short, with slender, convergent apicolateral processes, small posteromedial notch; sternite 9 with very shallow posteromedial excavation. Gonocoxite stout, 1.5 times as long as greatest breadth, ventral root foot-shaped, posterior heel long, dorsal root stout; gonostylus as long as gonocoxite, slender nearly straight, tip blunt. Parameres (Figura 5) separate, stout, each with large basal knob; stem curved near base, midportion of stem narrowly tapering, deeply sinuate, without ventral lobe, distal apex with lateral fringe of stout spines. Aedeagus (Figura 4) Y-shaped; basal arch extending to 0.5 of total length; basal arms slender, strongly sclerotized, nearly straight; posteromedial projection lightly sclerotized with pair of lateral pointed processes, tip serrate.

Figuras 3-5. Culicoides pampaensis , male. 3. genitalia (aedeagus and parameres removed); 4. aedeagus; 5. parameres.

Distribution. Argentina (La Pampa, Salta and Catamarca provinces).

Type. Holotype female, Argentina, La Pampa prov., Colonia 25 de Mayo, XII-1982, J. Garcia, biting man (MLP, examined).

Other specimens examined. Same data as type except 16-XII- 1996, G. Spinelli, 1 female, at light; Argentina, Salta prov., 7 km W Cafayate, río Colorado, 3-XII- 1986, G. Spinelli, 1 female, biting man; Catamarca prov., Departamento Londres, El Shincal, XII-2004, S. Bogan, 1 female, 1 male, at light (MLP).

Taxonomic Discussion. The female of Culicoides pampaensis is distinguished from C. bambusicola Lutz in couplet 15 in Spinelli et al. (2005) by the presence in the later species of sensilla coeloconica on flagellomere 5, the third palpal segment with deep pit, femora without pale rings, and longer costa (CR 0.62). The male genitalia of C. bambusicola also shows important differences, as follows: posterior heel of ventral root less developed, parameres tapered to simple filiform tip, and aedeagus triangular, stouter.

LITERATURE CITED

1. BORKENT, A. & G.R. SPINELLI. 2000. Catalog of the New World biting midges south of the United States of America (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Contrib. Entomol. Internat., 4(1): 1-107.
2. BORKENT, A. & W.W. WIRTH. 1997. World species of biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Bull. American Mus. Nat. History 233: 1-257.
3. McALPINE, J.F., B.V. PETERSON, G. E. SHEWELL, H. J. TESKEY, J. R. VOCKEROTH & D. M. WOOD (coords.). 1981. Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Vol. 1. Agriculture Canada Monograph 27. 674 pp.
4. RONDEROS, M.M. & G.R. SPINELLI. 2002. Los Culicoides de la Argentina: clave de especies y nuevos registros (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). In: O.D. Salomón (comp.). Actualizaciones en Artropo-dología Sanitaria Argentina. Fundación Mundo Sano, Buenos Aires. 89-95, 302 pp.
5. SPINELLI, G.R. & A. BORKENT. 2004. New species of Central American Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) with a synopsis of species from Costa Rica. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash., 106(2): 361-395.
6. SPINELLI, G R., M.M. RONDEROS, F. DÍAZ & P.I. MARINO. 2005. The bloodsucking midges of Argentina (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz, 100 (2): 137-150.
7. SPINELLI, G.R. & W.W. WIRTH. 1984. Ocho especies nuevas del género Culicoides Latreille de la region Neotropical. Primera descripción del macho de C. flinti Wirth y de la hembra de C. lenti Tavares y Luna Diaz (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argent. 43: 171-185.
8. SPINELLI, G.R. & W.W. WIRTH. 1986. Clave para la identificación de las especies del género Culicoides Latreille presentes al sur de la cuenca Amazónica, nuevas citas y notas sinonímicas (Diptera: Ceratopo-gonidae). Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argent. 44: 49-73.
9. SPINELLI, G.R. & W.W. WIRTH. 1993. Los Ceratopogonidae de la Argentina (Insecta: Diptera). In: Z. A. de Castellanos (ed.). Fauna de agua dulce de República Argentina 38(3): 124 pp. Profadu (Conicet).
10. SZADZIEWSKI, R. 1996. Biting midges from Lower Cretaceous amber of Lebanon and Upper Cretaceous Siberian amber of Taimyr (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae). Studia Dipterol. 3: 23-86.
11. WIRTH, W.W, A.L. DYCE & G.R. SPINELLI. 1988. An atlas of wings photographs, with a summary of the numerical characters of the Neotropical species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopo-gonidae). Contrib. Amer. Entomol. Inst. 25: 1-72.         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]         [ Links ]

Recibido: 10-VIII-2005
Aceptado: 14-X-2005