The biting midge genus Forcipomyia (Diptera : Ceratopogonidae) in the Australasian region (exclusive of New Zealand). III. The subgenera Forcipomyia, s.s., and Lepidohelea

Abstract

In 1959 Tokunaga recorded 26 species in the subgenus Forcipomyia from New Guinea, but he assigned no species to Lepidohelea, that subgenus being at the time considered of doubtful validity. Eleven of these species are here retained in subgenus Forcipomyia and five are transferred to Lepidohelea, which can now be more fully characterised (the remaining species are dealt with elsewhere in this series). Apart from the New Guinea material, a single species of subgenus Forcipomyia is known from Samoa, and one species described from Australia in 1889, F. albopunctata (Skuse), can also be assigned to subgenus Forcipomyia. In this paper 11 new species of subgenus Forcipomyia and 14 of subgenus Lepidohelea are described from Australia, and two new species of each subgenus from New Guinea. Additional data is presented for eight previously described species. Within each subgenus species have, where possible, been placed in species-groups to facilitate comparison and identification.