Two new species of Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Gangetic Plains of West Bengal, India with a key to the Indian species

Descriptions of two new species of Culicoides Latreille from Sundarbans, India with an adult key to the ornatus species group of the Oriental region (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae)

“…Culicoides Latreille, 1809 is one of the most species rich genera of the family Ceratopogonidae with approximately 1368 valid species, 32 subgenera, 38 species groups, and 176 unplaced species described worldwide (Borkent and Dominiak 2020); so far 76 species have been reported from India (Chatterjee et al 2020). Most female members of this genus are haematophagous and many species act as important vectors of pathogenic viruses, protozoans and filarial nematodes (Mellor et al 2000;Borkent 2005).…”