Culicoides (Silvaticulicoides) loisae Jamnback, 1965

Vigil, Wlodkowski, John C., Joshua, Vargas, Shaw, David, Christopher, William L. Grogan, Jr. & Corn, Joseph L., 2014, New records of biting midges of the genus Culicoides Latreille from the southeastern United States (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Insecta Mundi 2014 (394), pp. 1-14 : 9-10

Culicoides (Silvaticulicoides) loisae Jamnback

Culicoides (Oecacta) loisae Jamnback, 1965: 77 (New York; Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia); Blanton and Wirth 1979: 112 (Florida records; distribution); Wilkening et al. 1985: 521 (Florida records).

Culicoides loisae: Battle and Turner 1970: 426 (records from North Carolina); Wirth et al. 1985: 34 (in Nearctic Wing Atlas; in C. bigutattus group; distribution).

Culicoides (Beltranmyia) loisae: Battle and Turner 1971: 54 (Virginia records).

Culicoides (Silvaticulicoides) loisae: Borkent and Grogan 2009: 15 (in Nearctic catalog; Quebec, Canada; distribution).

Discussion. Culicoides loisae is a drab, dark brown midge with a grayish wing with little, if any, discernible pattern, and a very short proboscis (proboscis/head ratio about 0.50). In addition, as noted by Blanton and Wirth (1979), females lack mandibular teeth and have reduced tormae, and accordingly, it is not haematophagous. Jamnback (1965) described this species from specimens collected in New York, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Soon after, Battle and Turner (1970) recorded it from North Carolina. By 1979, C. loisae had been found in all other southeastern coastal states as well as the western portion of the Florida panhandle ( Blanton and Wirth 1979). More recently, Borkent and Grogan (2009) also listed it from Quebec, Canada. We provide the first record of C. loisae from Alabama, a female collected in Geneva County near the southeastern border of that state, adjacent to Holmes County, Florida.

New State Record. ALABAMA, Geneva Co., Kinston, Geneva State Forest Wildlife Management Area, 18 September 2010, 1 female.