Forcipomyia

''Forcipomyia'' is a genus of biting midges in the subfamily Forcipomyiinae. Species of the subgenus '' Lasiohelea'' suck vertebrate blood. Some species are ectoparasites on larger insects. Other species in the genus are important pollinators of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''). There are at least 1,000 described species in ''Forcipomyia''.

It is often repeated that a species of ''Forcipomyia'' has the highest recorded wing-beat frequency at 1046 Hz, citing a paper by Finnish entomologist Olavi Sotavalta published in 1953. The actual wing-beat frequency given for an unmanipulated individual in Sotavalta's 1953 paper is 800–950 Hz, and the figure of 1046 Hz instead appears in Sotavalta's 1947 PhD thesis. Sotavalta was able to induce a wing-beat frequency as high as 2218 Hz by clipping the midge's wings close to the base and heating it to 37° C, shortly after which the midge died.

Subgenera

See also

* List of ''Forcipomyia'' species

References

* Borkent, A. 2011: World species of biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).
* Chen, H.; Liu, Y.; Yu, Y. 2012: Two new biting midges of the subfamily Forcipomyiinae Lenz (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from China. Zootaxa 3582: 33–36.
* Debenham, M.L. 1987: The biting midge genus ''Forcipomyia'' (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in the Australasian region (exclusive of New Zealand). I. Introduction, key to subgenera, and the ''Thyridomyia'' and ''Trichohelea'' groups of subgenera. Invertebrate taxonomy, 1(1): 35-119.
* Debenham, M.L. 1987: The biting midge genus ''Forcipomyia'' (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in the Australasian region (exclusive of New Zealand). III. The subgenera ''Forcipomyia'', s.s., and ''Lepidohelea''. Invertebrate taxonomy, 1(3): 269-350.
* Johannsen, O.A., 1950: A New ''Pterobosc''a from Florida with a Key to American Species. Florida Entomologist, 33 (4): 141-144.
* Liu, Y-q.; Chen, H-y.; Yu, Y-x. 2009: A key of ''Forciomyia orcipomyia(Synthyridomyia)'' with discription escriptionof a new species from China (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Sichuan journal of zoology, 28(4): 521-523.
* Liu, J.-H.; Yan, G.; Liu, G.-P.; Hao, B.-S.; Liu, Z.-J.; Yu, Y.-X. 2001: Forcipomyiinae of China (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) II. The genus ''Forcipomyia'' Meigen. Fauna of China, 3: 1-256.
* Marino, P.I.; Spinelli, G.R. 2008: Biting midges of the ''Forcipomyia (Forcipomyia) argenteola'' group in southern South America, with description of a new species and a key to the Neotropical species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). International journal of tropical biology and conservation, 56(2): 789-794.
* Meigen, J. 1818. Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten europäischen zweiflügeligen Insekten 1, v-xii, xxxvi + 1-332. Friedrich Wilhelm Forstmann, Aachen.
* Saha, P.K.; Kumar Dasgupta, S.; Gangopadhyay, D.; Mukherjee, T.K. 2009: A morphotaxonomic study of the Indian species of ''Forcipomyia'' Meigen biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Records of the Zoological Survey of India occasional paper, (299)
* Sun, H.; Ke, M.-J.; Li, S.-X.; Li, L.-Y.; Yu, Y.-x. 2009: Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Zhuhai, China. New species and new record of the genus ''Forcipomyia'' Miegen. Acta Parasitology et Medica Entomologica Sinica, 16(2): 104-106.
* Szadziewski, R., 1988: Biting midges (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) from Baltic amber. Polskie pismo entomologiczne, 58(1): 3-283.
* Szadziewski, R., 1990: Biting midges (Insecta: Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Sakhalin amber. Prace Muzeum Ziemi, 41: 77-81.
* Szadziewski, R., 1993: Biting midges (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) from Miocene Saxonian amber. Acta zoologica cracoviensia, 35(3): 603-656.
* Szadziewski, R. & Sonntag, E., 2013: A new species of ''Forcipomyia'' from Paleocene Sakhalin amber (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Polish Journal of Entomology, 82 (1): 59-62,
* Yu, Y. et al. 2005: Ceratopogonidae of China: Insecta, Diptera. Volume I. Military Medical Science Press, Beijing.
* Yu, Y.-x.; Song, F.-C. 2008: A new subgenus, two new species of ''Forcipomyia'' from China (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae). Acta zootaxonomica sinica, 33(4): 793-795.

Ceratopogonidae
Chironomoidea genera
Articles containing video clips
Taxa named by Johann Wilhelm Meigen

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