The Biting Midges of the Caribbean island Curaçao (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). I. Species in the genus Dasyhelea Kieffer

Abstract

We document the first records of biting midges in the genus Dasyhelea Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Curaçao: Dasyhelea azteca Huerta & Grogan, D. bahamensis (Johnson), D. cincta (Coquillett), D. corinneae Gosseries, D. flavifrons (Guérin-Méneville) and D. grisea (Coquillett). The following six new species of Dasyhelea are described from this Caribbean island and their key features are presented in color photographs and illustrations: D. aliciae n. sp., D. recurva n. sp., D. latiala n. sp., D. rhopaloparamera n. sp., D. cyrtostyla n. sp., and D. curacaoensis n. sp. We also provide a key to males and females of all known species of Dasyhelea from Curaçao.