Abstract:
Ten character states were used to compare five females and two males of two populations of C. nudipalpis
from the Philippines and Timor in south-east Asia with 121 females and 167 males of 11 populations of
C. imicola collected throughout its Afro-Asiatic range. It is concluded that they are closely related but
good species, and together form a subgroup, or species-pair, in the lmicola group; currently this Old
World group of the subgenus Avaritia comprises seven described species. Culicoides nudipalpis and
C. imicola are most reliably separated on the ratio of the length of the proboscis to the height of the
head (P/H ratio: 0,66-0,73 in nudipalpis, 0,82-1 ,02 in imicola). Compared to C. imicola very little is known
of the life habits of C. nudipalpis. The latter's close taxonomic relationship to C. imicola, a proven vector
of African horse sickness (AHS) and bluetongue (BT), indicates that the capacity of C. nudipalpis to
vector these orbiviruses deserves to be investigated.
