Antennal and palpal sensilla of Forcipomyia (Lasiohelea Kieffer) fairfaxensis Wirth, 1951 (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Algonquin Park, Ontario

Abstract

The antennal and palpal sensilla of Forcipomyia (Lasiohelea) fairfaxensis, a biting midge that bloodfeeds on frogs in Algonquin Park, Ontario, were examined by light and electron microscopy and compared with those of Culicoides species. A cluster of ~26 bulbous sensilla occurred in a pit on the third palpal segment (an intermediate number of sensilla compared with the mammalophilic and ornithophilic species). Four types of sensilla (chaetica, trichodea, basiconica, and coeloconica) found on the antennae differed in their distribution from, and were significantly higher in number than on either mammalophilic or ornithophilic ceratopogonids.