Culicoides hildebrandoi, Farias, Emanuelle de Sousa, Pereira Junior, Antonio Marques, Felippe-Bauer, Maria Luiza, Pessoa, Felipe Arley Costa, Medeiros, Jansen Fernandes & Santarem, Maria Clara Alves, 2016

Farias, Emanuelle de Sousa, Pereira Junior, Antonio Marques, Felippe-Bauer, Maria Luiza, Pessoa, Felipe Arley Costa, Medeiros, Jansen Fernandes & Santarem, Maria Clara Alves, 2016, Culicoideshildebrandoi, a new species of the reticulatus species group from the Brazilian Amazon Region (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae), ZooKeys 571, pp. 105-111 : 106-108

Taxon classification Animalia Diptera Ceratopogonidae

Culicoides hildebrandoi sp. n. Figs 1, 2, 3

Diagnosis.

Female: only species of Culicoides in the Neotropical Region with the following combination of features: 2nd radial cell in dark spot, r3 with four sparsely distributed pale spots, r-m crossvein pale; hind femur with subapical pale band; scutum with two anterior submedian clover-leaf shaped spots; third palpal segment elongate, slightly swollen, cylindrical, without a sensory pit but with capitate sensilla scattered on the surface cuticle. Male: only species in the Neotropical Region with the following combination of features: tergite 9 with a posteromedial notch, parameres with slightly sinuous stem, swollen on mid-portion and without a ventral lobe and the basal arch of aedeagus extending 2/3 of total length.

Description.

Female. Head (Fig. 2d). Brown. Eyes bare, separated by distance equal to diameter of nearly one ommatidium (Fig. 2a). Antennal pedicel brown; flagellum pale brown, flagellomeres 1-8 pale on proximal ½; AR 0.90-1.00 (0.95, n = 8); sensilla coeloconica on flagellomeres 1, 6-8, two on 1, three on 6, three or four on 7 and four on 8. Palpus (Fig. 2b) brown; third segment elongate cylindrical, slightly swollen, without sensory pit, with sensilla scattered on surface; PR 3.30-3.90 (3.54, n = 12). Proboscis moderately long; P/H ratio 0.87-1.00 (0.95, n = 13); mandible (Fig. 2c) with 19-25 (22, n = 12) teeth.

Thorax (Fig. 2e). Dark brown, with prominent pattern of well-defined yellowish patches, humeral depression pale. Scutum with two anterior submedian clover-leaf shaped spots, two posterior submedian pale areas; lateral portion with anterior, posterior pale areas; prescutellar depressions pale; scutellum with yellowish lateral margins; postscutellum brown with pale median area. Wing (Fig. 1a) with contrasting pattern of pale and dark spots; distal ½ of 1st, all of 2nd radial cell in dark spot; pale spot over r-m extending from M1 to just below radius; another pale spot from dorsal portion of radius to margin of costa; r3 with four small separated pale spots: 1st rounded, between 2nd radial cell and M1; 2nd extending posterior to 2nd radial cell, abutting wing margin; 3rd ovoid, in mid portion of cell, larger than 2nd spot; 4th distal pale spot close to 3rd spot, extending to wing margin; m1 with two pale spots, 1st small, ovoid, beyond fork of M1 and M2, 2nd larger than 1st, not close to wing margin; m2 with four pale spots: 1st proximal to CuA, 2nd and 3rd between medial and mediocubital forks, 4th larger, not reaching wing margin; cua1 with a rounded pale spot in middle of cell; anal cell with faint basal sinuous pale area and one distal pale spot near mediocubital fork that is nearly subdivided, abutting wing margin; wing base with faint pale spot on M; apices of M1, M2 and CuA1 broadly pale; macrotrichia sparsely distributed on distal half of wing; wing length 1.10-1.30 (1.25, n = 13) mm, breadth 0.50-0.58 (0.56, n = 12) mm; CR 0.60-0.68 (0.65, n = 13). Halter stem pale, knob brown. Legs (Fig. 2g) brown; femora with subapical, tibiae with subbasal pale bands; apex of hind tibia pale; hind tibial comb with four spines, that nearest spur longest.

Abdomen. Brown. Two subequal-size ovoid spermathecae (Fig. 2f), measuring 37.5-47.5 × 32.5-35.0 (n = 2) µm and 37.5-40.0 × 30.0-32.5 (n = 2) µm, slen der sclerotized necks with 7.5 µm; third slender, elongate rudimentary spermatheca, length 27.5-30.0 (n = 2) µm.

Male. Similar to female with usual sexual differences. Sensilla coeloconica on flagellomeres 1, 6-10, one on 1, 6-8, two on 9, three on 10; AR 0.80-0.87 (0.85, n = 4). PR 1.6-2.0 (1.78, n = 4). Wing with pattern of pale spots as in Fig. 1b, wing length 0.95-1.08 (1.00, n = 4), breadth 0.35-0.40 (0.38, n = 4); CR 0.62-0.64 (0.63, n = 4). Terminalia (Fig. 3a): Tergite 9 long, tapered slightly at mid length, distal portion broader with short conical apicolateral processes, with distinct posteromedial notch; sternite 9 with rounded posteromedian excavation. Gonocoxite twice as long as broad, ventral, dorsal roots slender, elongated, sclerotized; gonostylus tapering distally, distal portion curved, apex broader with beak-like tip. Parameres (Fig. 3b) separate, each one with heavily sclerotized basal knob; stem long, curved near base, slightly sinuous, swollen on mid portion without ventral lobe; apical portion tapered, elongate, abruptly bent without lateral fringe of spicules. Aedeagus (Fig. 3a) Y-shaped; basal arms heavily sclerotized; basal arch triangular, extending 2/3 of total length; distal portion moderately slender, apex rounded.

Type material.

Holotype female, labeled "Brazil, Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rancho Colorado Farm, 08°42'3.7"S; 63°59'3.8"W, 20.VIII.2014, CDC light trap, forest, Jansen F Medeiros col." (CCER). Allotype male labeled as for female (CCER). Paratypes 12 females and three males: 11 females and three males same data as holotype (7 females, 2 males ILMD; 4 females, 1 male CCER); 1 female, Brazil, Amazonas, Balbina, 08.V.1985, CDC light trap, E. Castellón & S. Gomes col. (ILMD).

Distribution and bionomics.

This is a forest species of the Amazon region of Brazil in the states of Amazonas and Rondônia.

Etymology.

This species is named in memory of the late Dr. Luiz Hildebrando Pereira da Silva, a parasitologist who dedicated many years to studying Tropical Diseases such as Malaria and Chagas Disease. During his long career, Dr. Hildebrando was director of the Pasteur Institute, France. In Brazil he was a Medical School Professor at the University of São Paulo and Federal University of Rondônia. He also created the Institute for Research of Tropical Pathologies in Rondônia and was pivotal for the implementation of Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rondônia.