Overview
The Ceratopogonidae, comprising some 4000 species worldwide, are known as the biting midges, to contrast with their sister group, the non-biting midges (Chironomidae). The name 'biting midge' reflects the general presence of functional mandibles in adult female ceratopogonids, and their almost universal absence in the Chironomidae. Australians tend to call these nuisance midges 'sandflies' due to the propensity of certain mangrove and sandy shore-dwelling species to cause suffering in such places by their voracious biting.
Mandibles are used in feeding to obtain the protein meal usually required for egg maturation. The mandibles of all female biting midges are used to take blood from vertebrates, including humans, and some are restricted to sucking haemolymph from invertebrate hosts, such as odonates and lepidopterans (subgenera of
Forcipomyia
). Many Ceratopogonini are predators of other flying insects. In some species, the female mandibles may be used to feed on the copulating male of her own species. Certain species, notably amongst
Dasyhelea
, lack functional mandibles. Amongst vertebrate-biting species are many pests of humans and livestock, and some of these transmit protozoans and filaria and viruses such as blue-tongue.
Larval ecology varies with subfamily: Leptoconopinae are sand-burrowers in fresh, estuarine and marine shores. Dasyheleinae are characteristic of container habitats, including phytotelmata. The Ceratopogoninae vary in habit, but include many semi-aquatic and aquatic species of which several can be found in tree holes. Forcipomyiinae larvae are more terrestrial but also include fully aquatic species. Newly discovered immature stages of subfamily Austroconopinae may live in damp soils associated with kangaroo dung.
The ceratopogonid wing provides the best means of separation from otherwise rather similar Chironomidae. Two branches of M are present; with M2 usually distinct but may be weakened at base, rarely obsolescent. There are never more than two branches of R reaching the wing margin; if R2+3 is present, it is a crossvein, forming a closed first radial cell. Female mouthparts include blade-like mandibles. In the larval stage the relationship between Ceratopogonidae and Chironomidae is obvious, since they are difficult to distinguish. However, there is a unique internal structure to ceratopogonid larvae: this is the strongly developed pharyngeal apparatus, which has two strongly divergent arms with prominent combs between. No larval chironomid has such pharyngeal development.
Description
The ceratopogonid wing provides the best means of separation from otherwise rather similar Chironomidae. Two branches of M are present; with M2 usually distinct but may be weakened at base, rarely obsolescent. There are never more than two branches of R reaching the wing margin; if R2+3 is present, it is a crossvein, forming a closed first radial cell. Female mouthparts include blade-like mandibles. In the larval stage the relationship between Ceratopogonidae and Chironomidae is obvious, since they are difficult to distinguish. However, there is a unique internal structure to ceratopogonid larvae: this is the strongly developed pharyngeal apparatus, which has two strongly divergent arms with prominent combs between. No larval chironomid has such pharyngeal development.
Distribution
Ceratopogonidae are cosmopolitan and globally distributed with the exception of Antarctica.