Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera) » Mosquitoes and Midges (Culicomorpha) » Biting Midges (Ceratopogonidae) » Ceratopogoninae » Sphaeromiini » Sphaeromias

Genus Sphaeromias

biting midge - Sphaeromias longipennis - female

small dark fly with claws - Sphaeromias longipennis - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Diptera (Flies)

No Taxon ("Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera))

Infraorder Culicomorpha (Mosquitoes and Midges)

Family Ceratopogonidae (Biting Midges)

Subfamily Ceratopogoninae

Tribe Sphaeromiini

Genus Sphaeromias

Numbers

Two North American species, longipennis (common and widespread in the East) and bifidus.

Size

Female wing length 4-5 mm, male smaller

Identification

"Large, stout, grayish pollinose species. Femora with numerous small, sharp, ventral spines; fourth tarsomeres simple, not cordiform; fifth tarsomeres armed ventrally with numerous long, black, blunt spines (batonnets); female claws large, equal, curved, not as long as fifth tarsomere, each with slender, sharp tooth at base on inner side. Wing with two radial cell; costa long, extending nearly to wing tip." (Wirth and Grogan 1979)

Contributed by John F. Carr on 24 October, 2011 - 5:46pm
Last updated 21 April, 2012 - 8:59pm

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