Taxonomic assessment of Culicoides brunnicans, C. santonicus and C. vexans (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in France: Implications in systematics.

Abstract Culicoides brunnicans Edwards, 1939, Culicoides santonicus , Callot et al., 1966, and Culicoides vexans ( Staeger, 1839 ) belong to the Vexans group of the subgenus Oecacta . These species had never been studied by molecular methods and their distribution in Western Europe overlapped. C. brunnicans and C. santonicus are two closely related species and their diagnoses are based on the wing pattern only. An integrative taxonomic approach was conducted on females of the Vexans group, Culicoides furens (the type species of the subgenus Oecacta ), and Culicoides nubeculosus (as outgroup) using sequences of D1D2 rDNA domains, sequences of COI mtDNA, and wing morphometrics. Species of the Vexans group were discriminated by all traits, and were closely related in the phylogeny. Their taxonomic status and their relation to C. furens were re-evaluated.