Culicoides soleamaculatus, Nandi, Mou & Mazumdar, Abhijit, 2014

Nandi, Mou & Mazumdar, Abhijit, 2014, Revision of the subgenus Diphaomyia Vargas of Culicoides Latreille from India with description of a new species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Zootaxa 3793 (4), pp. 465-474 : 466-467

Clavipalpis Group

Female. Eyes contiguous to narrowly separated, bare or hairy. Antenna with SCo restricted to proximal flagellomeres and absent in 9–13. Hind tibial comb with 4 spines. Wing with pale spot over r-m cross vein often centred distal to the cross vein, a small round pale spot usually at extreme apex of cell r3, variable in shape, usually diagnostic for species without any pale spot between it and distal poststigmatic spots, cell m2 always with pale spot lying in front of Cu fork straddling on veins M1 and M2 often vary in species, distal pale spots in cells m1 and m2 not reaching the wing margin (except for notatus), anal cell with pale basal and a distal, transverse, somewhat double or medially constricted pale spot; macrotrichia sparse almost all over the wing and mostly arranged in lines on distal part of the wing.

Male. Aedeagus often with sclerotized lateral process, aedeagal stem parallel-sided and channel-like (tapered and sharp-pointed in similis ) distally, parameres each with rounded basal knob, stem slender with more or less developed ventral lobe and fan-like distal expansion of parameres with lateral spines.

Species included. C. causeyi Majumdar & Das Gupta C. clavipalpis Mukerji , C. distinctus Sen & Das Gupta , C. huffi Causey , C. mukerjii Majumdar & Das Gupta , C. similis Carter, Ingram & Macfie , C. soleamaculatus sp. n.

Culicoides causeyi Majumdar & Das Gupta (PLATE 1A1–A3)

Culicoides causeyi Majumdar & Das Gupta, In Gangopadhyay & Das Gupta, 1998: 127 .

Materials examined. 2♀, 1♂, West Bengal, Kalyani, 22.9750° N, 88.4344°E, 23 April 2006, Coll. U. Majumdar.

Diagnosis (Modified after Gangopadhyay & Das Gupta, 1998). This species may be diagnosed by the following combination of characters: Females with bare, almost touching eyes, SCo on flagellomeres 1,3,5–8; maxillary palpus with shallow and large sensory pit; wing from the pale spot just below of it, touching the vein M1, pale spot distal to anal cell medially constricted. Males without lateral processes on aedeagus and notched at tip, fan-like expansion of parameres bearing 6 lateral spines.