Haematophagous biting midges of the extant genus Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) evolved during the mid-Cretaceous

: Four new fossil species of haematophagous biting midges of the genus Culicoides Latreille, from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber are described and illustrated: C. bojarskii Szadziewski Dominiak sp. nov., C. burmiticus Szadziewski Dominiak sp. nov., C. ellenbergeri Szadziewski Dominiak sp. nov. and C. myanmaricus Szadziewski Dominiak sp. nov. These extinct species are assigned to the new subgenus, Groganomyia Szadziewski Dominiak subgen. nov. which also includes an extant species that inhabits European mountains, Culicoides cameroni Campbell Pelham-Clinton, 1960, the type species. These very old (99 Ma) haematophagous biting midges of the extant genus Culicoides from Burmese amber supports the hypothesis that most groups of modern biting midges evolved during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse climate.