Haematophagous biting midges of the extant genus Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) evolved during the mid-Cretaceous

Ryszard Szadziewski; Patrycja Dominiak; Elżbieta Sontag; Wiesław Krzemiński; B O Wang; Jacek Szwedo

doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4688.4.5

Haematophagous biting midges of the extant genus Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) evolved during the mid-Cretaceous

Zootaxa. 2019 Oct 24;4688(4):zootaxa.4688.4.5. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4688.4.5.

Authors

Ryszard Szadziewski¹, Patrycja Dominiak, Elżbieta Sontag, Wiesław Krzemiński, B O Wang, Jacek Szwedo

Affiliation

¹ Laboratory of Evolutionary Entomology and Museum of Amber Inclusions, Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland. user@example.com.

PMID: 31719428
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4688.4.5

Abstract

Four new fossil species of haematophagous biting midges of the genus Culicoides Latreille, from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber are described and illustrated: C. bojarskii Szadziewski Dominiak sp. nov., C. burmiticus Szadziewski Dominiak sp. nov., C. ellenbergeri Szadziewski Dominiak sp. nov. and C. myanmaricus Szadziewski Dominiak sp. nov. These extinct species are assigned to the new subgenus, Groganomyia Szadziewski Dominiak subgen. nov. which also includes an extant species that inhabits European mountains, Culicoides cameroni Campbell Pelham-Clinton, 1960, the type species. These very old (99 Ma) haematophagous biting midges of the extant genus Culicoides from Burmese amber supports the hypothesis that most groups of modern biting midges evolved during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse climate.

Keywords: Diptera, Burmese amber, Groganomyia, new subgenus, new species, Culicoides cameroni.

MeSH terms

Amber
Animals
Ceratopogonidae*
Fossils

Substances

Amber