Leptoconops
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Leptoconops Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leptoconops sp. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Ceratopogonidae |
| Subfamily: | Leptoconopinae |
| Genus: | Leptoconops Skuse, 1889 |
| Synonyms | |
|
Tersesthes Townsend, 1893 | |
Leptoconops (black gnat)[1] is a midge genus in the family Ceratopogonidae.[2] It has a mostly tropical or subtropical distribution worldwide,[3] but some species occur as far north as Moscow region in Russia and the Yukon Territory in Canada.[4]
This genus is relictual, having had a pantropical distribution during the Cretaceous.[5] The presence of Leptoconops, along with Austroconops, in ancient Lebanese amber makes these the earliest existing lineages of biting midges.[3] Extinct species have also been described from amber from Siberia, New Jersey, Canada, Hungary, Sakhalin, France,[4] and Spain.[6]
Adult Leptoconops females are diurnal feeders, and suck vertebrate blood. Adults of both sexes in some species rest by burying themselves in sand.[7] Larvae feed on algae, fungi, and bacteria. They burrow in moist, usually saline, sand or mud of desert areas and coastal and inland beaches.[3][4]
