Culicoides

Culicoides is a genus of biting midges in the family Ceratopogonidae. There are over 1000 species in the genus, which is divided into many subgenera. Several species are known to be vectors of various diseases and parasites which can affect animals. The systematics and taxonomy of this genus are confused. A large number of species are of unknown relations to those that have been assigned to subgenera already. Furthermore, many subgenera are sometimes elevated to full genus status, or additional genera (such as Paradasyhelea) are included as subgenera herein. A widely cited, periodically updated, subgeneric classification of species of Culicoides begins with the warning that the traditional approach to classification of species in this genus has led to 'phylogenetic chaos'. Some of the specific consequences are mentioned, as well as recommendations for future work. A molecular phylogeny based on 42 species from 3 continents was proposed in 2017. In this work, the authors found that he subgenera Monoculicoides, Culicoides, Haematomyidium, Hoffmania, Remmia and Avaritia (including the main vectors of bluetongue virus disease) were monophyletic, whereas the subgenus Oecacta was paraphyletic. The study validated the subgenus Remmia (= Schultzei group) as a valid subgenus, outside of the subgenus Oecacta. The authors also considered that in Europe, Culicoides obsoletus, Culicoides scoticus and Culicoides chiopterus should be part of the Obsoletus complex whereas Culicoides dewulfi should be excluded from this complex. The authors concluded that the current Culicoides classification needed to be revisited with modern tools. Species incertae sedis include: