Revision of the Immaculatus Group of <i>Culicoides</i> Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Australasian Region with description of two new species

Abstract

The Immaculatus Group of Culicoides encompassing four species from Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, New Guinea and the Malay archipelago is revised. A diagnosis for the group, descriptions of males and females of C. shivasi sp. n. and C. collessi sp. n., a description of the male of C. immaculatus Lee & Reye, a redescription of the female of C. immaculatus and a diagnosis of C. agas Wirth & Hubert together with keys for their specific determination are pre-sented. Specific separation of the morphologically similar C. shivasi and C. immaculatus is supported by DNA barcodes (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I or COI) and nuclear carbomoylphosphate synthetase (CAD) sequence data.