456 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. io9 



with rounded basal arch to slightly over half of total length of aedeagus, 

 basal arms stout and curved ; distal portion in form of a poorly sclero- 

 tized, apically rounded, flattened lobe with a more heavily sclerotized 

 median slender stem. Parameres each with basal knob, stem short 

 and stout, abruptly bent near base, ventral lobe absent, distal portions 

 apparently damaged, characters not certain. 



Distribution: Panama. 



Specimens examined: Holotype female (USNM 63172), Almirante, 

 Bocas del Toro Province, Panama, mile 2.04, Apr. 15, 1953, F. S. 

 Blanton, light trap. Allotype male, Almirante, November 1952. 

 Paratypes, 37 females, same data as type, except miles 2.04 to 7.04 

 and dates Apr. 14 to 29, 1953. 



Discussion: The wing pattern of almirantei is obviously related 

 to those of uniradialis Wirth and Blanton, caprilesi Fox, and pachy- 

 merus Lutz, but in these species there is a tendency for the post- 

 stigmatic pale area to encroach on the second radial cell which is 

 over half pale in pachymerus and uniradialis. Moreover, the costa 

 is much longer in caprilesi and uniradialis, and in the latter species 

 there is a complete fusion of the two radial cells. In all three related 

 species the distal antennal segments are much shorter than in almirantei 

 and in this character the present species seems best to express its 

 individuality. The male genitalia of the four species are of the same 

 type, each with distinct characters; caprilesi most greatly resembling 

 almirantei in male characters, as well as in the greatest darkening of 

 the second radial cell of the wing. Culicoides lopesi Barretto from 

 Sao Paulo, Brazil, known only from the male, has a wing nearly 

 identical with that of almirantei, but the genitalia are quite different, 

 with a tapering ninth tergum, aedeagus with slender basal arms and 

 slender apex, and parameres with a low ventral lobe and subapical 

 barbs. Culicoides obnoxius Fox from Venezuela, known only from 

 the female, has a similar wing pattern also, but in that species the 

 apex of the second radial cell is pale, apex of vein Mi is pale, the eyes 

 are widely separated with short interfacetal hairs and the five distal 

 antennal segments are much more elongated. 



82. Culicoides caprilesi Fox 



Figure 85 



Culicoides caprilesi Fox, 1952, Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer., vol. 45, p. 364 (female; 



Mt. Marachuaca, Venezuela; fig. wing, palpus, antenna, eyes, tibial comb, 



spermathecae) . 

 Culicoides kintzi Wirth and Blanton, 1953, Journ. Washington Acad. Sci., vol. 43, 



p. 72 (male, female; Panama; fig. wing, palpus, spermathecae, male genitalia). 



—Wirth, 1955, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 57, p. 114 (notes). New 



synonymy. 



Female: Length of wing 0.83 (0.73-0.98, n = 6) mm. 



