New Records of Biting Midges of the Genus Culicoides(Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Yungas, Paranaense Rainforest and Chaco Ecoregions of Argentina

CECILIA A. VEGGIANI AYBAR, MARÍA J. DANTUR JURI, MARINA STEIN, GRISELDA ORIA, PATRICIA RAMÍREZ, MERCEDES S. LIZARRALDE DE GROSSO AND GUSTAVO R. SPINELLI

FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGIST

FLORIDA ENTOMOLOGICAL SOC

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2012 vol. 95 p. 798 - 799

0015-4040

The genus Culicoidesincludes 1,322 extant species distributed worldwide, with at least 266 species recorded from the Neotropical Region (Borkent 2012; Borkent & Spinelli 2007). In Ar-gentina, 51 species have been recorded 21 of which were from the northeastern region (Spinelli et al. 2005) and 10 species for the northwestern region of this country (Spinelli & Wirth 1993; Veggiani Aybar et al. 2010). The public health importance of Culicoides species includes painful discomfort and lesions caused by their bites, but also their role as vectors of diseases. Some species transmit filarial nema-todes, whereas others vector several economically important viral diseases such as Oropouche, blue-tongue, equine encephalitis, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, African horse sickness, Akabane and bo-vine ephemeral fever (Mellor et al. 2000; Ronderos et al. 2003). We provide new records of several species Cu-licoidesfrom the northwestern and northeastern regions of Argentina, in Salta, Tucumán and Mis-iones provinces.