Culicoides dycei Lee & Reye
Creators: name: Bellis, Glenn
name: Dyce, Alan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Ceratopogonidae
Culicoides
Culicoides dycei

description: Culicoides dycei Lee & Reye
(Figs 6, 12, 13, 18, 24, 31, 38, 44, 50, 56)
Culicoides dycei Lee & Reye 1953: 390
Type material examined. Holotype female, Australia, NSW, Moree, AL Dyce (ANIC); Allotype same data as holotype (ANIC); Paratypes, same data as holotype (2 males, 9 females, all ANIC).
Non-type material examined. Australia, NSW: Moree, Light trap, 23.ii.1963, A.L. Dyce & M.D. Murray (3 females 4 males ANIC); TerryHieHie, Gravesend Rd, 20.xi.1973, T.T., M.J. Muller (3 females 2 males ANIC); Slab crossing, TerryHieHie, 14.iii.1974, bred, M.J. Muller (4 females 4 males ANIC).
Diagnosis. Wing with single pale spot in cell M4. Female with SCo distribution 3,(8–10),11–15, six SCh on 4– 10, two to three SCh on 11–14, five on 15; spermathecae large and sac-like, completely unsclerotised. Male with SCo distribution 3, 13–15; STl distribution 3–6; STc distribution 4–6; about six SCh on 14; apical half of parameres strongly curved laterad, ventral membrane of ninth sternite bare. Pupal abdomen with paired spines only on lpm and lasm, thorax tubercules lacking spines; prothoracic horn without scales.
Female. Head. Eyes bare, separated by a distance of one facet or less (Fig 6), proboscis short; palpus (fig 12) brown with five segments, segment 3 expanding apically then abruptly narrowed beyond a round, shallow sensory pit with several protruding capitate sensilla. Antennal (Fig 18) antennomeres 4–10 barrel shaped, 11–15 cylindrical, short.
Thorax. Legs (fig 24) dark brown with dark knees, fore & mid femora pale basally and with conspicuous apical pale band, hind femora unbanded; all tibia with sub basal pale band. Wing (fig 31, 32) strongly patterned with 3 pale spots in cell R5, the two marginal spots sometimes reduced or absent (fig 32), single pale spot in cell M4.
Abdomen. Three developed elongate ovoid spermathecae, unsclerotised, imbricated and of similar size; ducts very short; sclerotised ring longer than wide.
Male. Head. Eyes bare, palpal segment 3 with a shallow pit. Antenna (Fig 44) with single row of plume verticils on antennomeres 3–12; antennomeres 13–15 elongate subcylindrical and narrow; non-plume SCh on 3 reaching to antennal segment 6 or 7.
Genitalia. (Fig 50) Ninth tergite with caudal margin convex. Ninth sternite with deep, U-shaped caudomedial excavation, ventral membrane without spicules. Gonocoxite rectangular, slightly longer than wide, dorsal root long and simple; ventral root short, stout and triangular. Gonostylus slender, curving gently distally to a pointed apex. Aedeagus with distal process short with a rounded mushroom-shaped expansion apically. Parameres separate, with distinctly curved basal arms angled sharply to weakly swollen stem lacking ventral lobe narrowing gradually to simple sharp-tipped distal portion curved lateroventrad.
Immatures. Fourth instar larvae and pupae of C. dycei were described and illustrated by Kettle & Elson (1978).
Distribution. (fig 68) All states of Australia.
Biology. Debenham (1978) summarised the known biology of this species. Immature stages live in the margins of creeks and rivers in sand or gravel substrates, in fresh or brackish water. Pupae float on the water surface and are unable to submerge. Adults feed on mammals, appear to be crepuscular to nocturnal and have been implicated in the transmission of viruses associated with macropods.
Remarks. Male and female specimens of this species can be distinguished from all members of Marksomyia, excepting C. pseudostigmaticus, by the single pale spot in cell M4 of the wing. Females of C. pseudostigmaticus have a single STc on 10 and have much smaller, ovoid, partially sclerotised spermathecae which enables separation from C. dycei. Male C. pseudostigmaticus have thickened, right-angled shoulders of the aedeagus which differ Antennomere mean (range)
Character species 3 4 5 6 7 8 SCo dycei 1.21 (1–2) 0 0 0 0 0
pseudostigmaticus 2 (2) 0 0 0 0 0
parvimaculatus 1.06 (1–2) 0 0 0 0 0
marksi 2.18 (2–3) 0 0 0 0 0
zentae 1.71 (1–2) 0.18 (0–1) 0 0 0 0
kayi 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 STl dycei 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 0 0
pseudostigmaticus 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 1 (1) 1 (1)
parvimaculatus 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 0.93 (0–2) 0.27 (0–2)
marksi 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 1.15 (0–2) 0.1 (0–1)
zentae 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 0 0
kayi 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (2) 0.43 (0–2) 0 STc dycei 0 1 (1) 0.95 (0–1) 0.95 (0–1) 0 0
pseudostigmaticus 0 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1)
parvimaculatus 0 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 0.71 (0–1) 0
marksi 0 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1)
zentae 0 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 0 0
kayi 0 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 0.43 (0–1)
SCh dycei 4 (4) – – – – –
pseudostigmaticus 7.5 (7–8) 8 (8) 8 (8) 7 (7) 6 (5–7) 6 (6)
parvimaculatus 3.94 (3–4) – – – – –
marksi 6 (6) – – – – –
zentae 3.89 (3–4) – – – – –
kayi 4 (3–5) – – – – – continued.
pseudostigmaticus 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) – – – parvimaculatus 0.08 (0–1) 0 0 0 – – – marksi 1 (1) 0.75 (0–1) 0.1 (0–1) 0.1 (0–1) – – – zentae 0 0 0 0 – – – kayi 0.14 (0–1) 0 0 0 – – –
SCh dycei – – – – 5.85 (5–6) 6.6 (6–7) 0 pseudostigmaticus 7 (6–8) 5.5 (5–6) 4 (4) 3 (3) 2 (2) 3 (3) 0 parvimaculatus – – – – 6 (6) 6.38 (6–7) 0 marksi – – – – 6 (6) 5 (5) 0.15 (0–2) zentae – – – – 6 (6) 6.56 (6–7) 0 kayi – – – – 6 (6) 7.14 (6–8) 0
from the rounded shoulders of uniform thickness of C. dycei. Pupae of C. dycei can be distinguished from C. parvimaculatus by the lateral spurs on all lpm tubercles of C. dycei, from C. zentae by absence of paired spines on dasm, dpmiv and dpmv and thoracic tubercules di and dii in C. dycei and from C. marksi by the absence of scales on the prothoracic horn. Immature stages of the remaining two species of Marksomyia are not known.
description: Published as part of Bellis, Glenn & Dyce, Alan, 2011, Marksomyia, a new subgenus of Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Australasian biogeographic region with descriptions of two new species, pp. 35-38 in Zootaxa 3014 on pages 53-55, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.204428