Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

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Culicoides pusillus Lutz, 1913

mosquito, Biting midge

Blood-sucking species, breeding in rotting cultivated plant materials and likely the result of human introduction (Wirth 1969b; Causton et al. 2006).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Diptera

Suborder
Nematocera

Family
Ceratopogonidae

Genus
Culicoides

Species
pusillus

Taxon category: Accepted

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1964

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Contaminant

Subpathway: On habitat material (soil, vegetation)

Introduced status: Naturalized

Invasive status: No data

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Neotropical; Santa Cruz

References

  • Peck, S.B. Heraty, J., Landry, B. & Sinclair, B.J. (1998) Introduced insect fauna of an oceanic archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Am. Entomol. 44: 218-237.
  • Sinclair, B.J. Peck, S.B. (2005) An annotated checklist of the Diptera of the Galápagos Archipelago (Ecuador). Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 64 pp.
  • Wirth, W.W. (1969) New species and records of Galápagos Diptera. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sc., Fourth Series 36(20): 571-594.
  • Borkent, A. (1991) The Ceratopogonidae (Diptera) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador with a Discussion of their Phylogenetic Relationships and Zoogeographic Origins. Entomologica Scandinavica 22(1): 97-120.
  • Linsley, E.G. (1977) Insects of the Galápagos (Supplement). Occassional Papers of the Califoria Academy of Sciences 125: 1-50.
  • Peck, S.B. (1996) Origin and development of an insect fauna on a remote archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. In: Keast A., Miller S.E. (eds.): The origin and evolution of Pacific Island biotas, New Guinea to eastern Polynesia: patterns and processes. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. 91-122.

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This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Culicoides pusillus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist?species=12223. Accessed 2 August 2025.