A NEW SPECIES OF CULICOIDES LATREILLE (DIPTERA:HELEIDAE) CULICOIDES MONGOLENSIS SP. NOV.

YAO WEN-PING Inner Mongolian Medical College, Huhehot

In the present paper, a new species of the genus Culicoides is described and figuredas follows: Female: -Body: about 1.7-1.9mm in length, brown in ground color. Head: Eyes (fig. 4): separated dorsally by the width of about two facets. Antenna(fig. 2): about 0.7mm in length, scape brown, flagellum pale; relative lengths of sevendistal segments as follows: 8.5-8.5-13-14-15.5-15.5-23; distal olfactory pits pre-sent on segments ⅢI, Ⅴ, Ⅶ, Ⅸ, Ⅺ-ⅩⅤ; antennal ratio about 1.2. Maxillary palpus(fig. 3): brown, about 0.23-0.26mm in length; proportional lengths of palpal segmentsas follows; 8-16-24-8-10; third segment distinctly swollen, widest in distal half, 2.3 timesas long as wide, with a broad sensory pit, sensillae very short and not extruded out ofthe sensory pit. Mandible: with 15 teeth. Proboscis brown, shorter than the length ofhead (12:19). Thorax: Scutum grayish brown and unmarked, humeral pits appearing as dark spots;scutellum pale brown; postscutellum brown; pleural and sternal sclerites brown. Halterswhite. Wing (fig. 6): about 1.4-1.6mm in length, grayish. First and second costal palespots comparatively distinct, others very obscure. First costal pale spot covering r-mcross-vein and basal half of first radial cell; second costal pale spot situated beyondsecond radial cell; third costal pale spot oval and not separated from wing margin; cellM_1 with an elongated basal pale spot behind costal second pale spot and a distal hemi-cicular pale spot reaching to wing margin; cell M_2 with a longitudinal pale stripe, arisingfrom wing base and ending behind basal pale spot of cell M_1 and a hemicicular pale spotalong distal margin; cell M_4 with a hemicicular pale spot along wing margin; anal cellwith two pale bands. Macrotrichia distributed over entire surface of the wing except thebasal cell. Second radial cell and apex of first radial cell entirely dark. Legs palebrown, knee-joints dark brown, pale rings near the knee-joint obscure; relative lengthsof three pairs of legs as follows: 23-24-12-5.5-3.5-2.5-3 in fore-leg; 29-31-15-6-4-2.5-3in mid-leg, and 29-30-14.5-7-4.5-3-3 in hind leg. Lengths of legs: fore leg about 1.1mm;mid-leg about 1.4mm, hind leg about 1.4mm. Abdomen: Brown, with two well-developed subequal and oval-shaped spermathecae(fig. 5), measuring 0.052 by 0.04mm, each with a slender neck, and another small rudi-mentary spermatheca. Male: Body: about 1.5-1.7mm in length, coloration similar to female or slightlypaler. Head: Eyes: almost contiguous. Antenna: About 0.8mm in length; relativelengths of seven distal segments as follows: 10-10-10-12-31-23-25; antennal ratio about1.0. Maxillary palpus; about 0.20mm in length, proportional lengths of palpal segmentsas follows: 6-11-17-8-9; third segment 3.2 times as long as wide. Thorax and wingcharacters similar to female, wing about 1.4-1.5mm in length and comparatively narrow.Relative lengths of three pairs of legs as follows: 29-27-14-7-5-3-4 in fore-leg; 35-34-17-8-5-3-4 in mid-leg, and 33-33-15-8-5.5-3-4 in hind leg. Lengths of legs: fore legabout 1.3mm; middle leg about 1.6mm, hind leg about 1.5mm. Male genitalia (fig. 1): Basistyle with ventral root triangular, dorsal root finger-shaped; dististyle almost straight except the curved pointed tip. Sternum 9 with deepcaudomedian excavation, ventral membrane bare; tergum 9 tapering toward the apex,apico-lateral processes (anal points) long and tapering toward the tips, with a small me-dian notch between them, Aedeagus with its basal arms (parameres) slender and curved,distal end of its median portion truncate. Gonapophyses separated from each other,each with a sub-basal rectangualr bend, its stem tapering to very slender and twisted tip. Distribution: Many female and male specimens were collected by the writer fromPao-tou, Inner Mongolia, China, (May 20, 1960). Holotype and paratypes are deposited in the Department of Parasitology, Inner Mon-golian Medical College.