Field morphological variation and laboratory hybridization of Culicoides variipennis sonorensis and C. v. occidentalis (Diptera:Ceratopogonidae) in southern California.

Two field populations of Culicoides variipennis (Coquillett) from southern California, C. v. occidentalis Wirth & Jones from the Salton Sea and C. v. sonorensis Wirth & Jones from a dairy wastewater pond in the Chino Basin, were sampled monthly from February to July (6-7 mo). Morphometric analyses of slide-mounted adults reared from field-collected larvae and pupae indicated that females of the 2 forms were indistinguishable. Two of the standard characters, wing length and mandibular teeth, were correlated with seasonal temperature changes. Males of C. v. sonorensis were distinguishable by the presence of spicules on the aedeagus, which were entirely lacking in C. v. occidentalis. Two populations of C. v. occidentalis (Salton Sea and Bolsa Chica Marsh) and a laboratory strain of C. v. sonorensis hybridized successfully in the laboratory and were maintained for 6 generations. Differential hybrid viability (F1) was observed in reciprocal crosses. Males of C. v. occidentalis mated with females of C. v. sonorensis resulted in a lower egg hatch (7.4%) than did the reciprocal cross (75.6%). Hybrid males displayed spicules on the aedeagus (a character of C. v. sonorensis), but the number of spicules was sometimes reduced compared with parental C. v. sonorensis (AA strain). Spicules in a field population of C. v. sonorensis were similar in number to the laboratory C. v. sonorensis-C. v. occidentalis hybrids. Based on successful hybridization, the 2 forms should be considered closely related. The 2 forms are separated ecologically by the nature and distribution of their larval habitats.