Leptoconops Explained

Leptoconops (black gnat)[1] is a midge genus in the family Ceratopogonidae.[2] It has a mostly tropical or subtropical distribution worldwide, but some species occur as far north as Moscow region in Russia and the Yukon Territory in Canada.

This genus is relictual, having had a pantropical distribution during the Cretaceous.[3] The presence of Leptoconops, along with Austroconops, in ancient Lebanese amber makes these the earliest existing lineages of biting midges.[4] Extinct species have also been described from amber from Siberia, New Jersey, Canada, Hungary, Sakhalin, France, and Spain.[5]

Adult Leptoconops females are diurnal feeders, and suck vertebrate blood. Adults of both sexes in some species rest by burying themselves in sand.[6] Larvae feed on algae, fungi, and bacteria. They burrow in moist, usually saline, sand or mud of desert areas and coastal and inland beaches.[4]

Species

Leptoconops contains the following species:

Notes and References

  1. Mazumdar . Abhijit . Saha . Narayan . Chaudhuri . Prasanta. Blood sucking midges of Leptoconops (Holoconops Kieffer) (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from India. Zootaxa. 21 September 2010. 2619. 49–55. 10.11646/zootaxa.2619.1.5 .
  2. Borkent. Art. Wirth. Willis W. World Species of Biting Midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 24 July 1997. 233. 1.
  3. Szadziewski. R. A blood sucking biting midge from Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber with a key to the determination of fossil species in the relictual genus Leptoconops Skuse (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Cretaceous Research. May 2015. 54. 255–259. 10.1016/j.cretres.2014.12.013.
  4. Choufani. J. Azar. D. Perrichot. V . etal . The genus Leptoconops Skuse (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Early Cretaceous Charentese amber. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. December 2011. 91. 4. 285–291. 10.1007/s12549-011-0057-1.
  5. Arillo. Antonio. Penalver. Enrique. Delclos. Xavier. Microphorites (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from the Lower Cretaceous amber of San Just (Spain), and the co-occurrence of two ceratopogonid species in Spanish amber deposits. Zootaxa. 31 October 2008. 1920. 29–40. 10.11646/zootaxa.1920.1.2.
  6. Borkent. Art. Leptoconops (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), the Earliest Extant Lineage of Biting Midge, Discovered in 120-122 Million-Year-Old Lebanese Amber. American Museum Novitates. 26 April 2001. 3328. 1–11. 10.1206/0003-0082(2001)328<0001:ldctee>2.0.co;2. 2246/2945. free.
  7. Szadziewski. Ryszard. Biting Midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Burmese Amber, Myanmar. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23 July 2004. 2. 2. 115–121. 10.1017/s1477201904001178.
  8. Choufanni. Joanna. Perrichot. Vincent. Azar. Dany. Nel. Andre. New Biting Midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Late Cretaceous Vendean Amber. Paleontological Contributions. 1 December 2014. 10H.
  9. Yu. Yixin. A New Species of Leptoconops Midge from Wudang Mountain, Hubei Province, China (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Entomologia Sinica. March 1997. 4. 1. 56–58. 10.1111/j.1744-7917.1997.tb00072.x.
  10. Poinar Jr.. George. Leptoconops nosopheris sp. n. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and Paleotrypanosoma burmanicus gen. n., sp. n. (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), a biting midge--trypanosome vector association from the Early Cretaceous. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. August 2008. 103. 5. 468–71. 10.1590/s0074-02762008000500010. free.
  11. Szadziewski. Ryszard. Arillo. Antonio. The oldest fossil record of the extant subgenus Leptoconops (Leptoconops)(Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia. 15 October 2003. 46. 271–275.

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