Leptoconops
Sign in to saveLeptoconops (black gnat) is a midge genus in the family Ceratopogonidae. It has a mostly tropical or subtropical distribution worldwide, but some species occur as far north as Moscow region in Russia and the Yukon Territory in Canada.
Taxonomy · GBIF
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumArthropoda
- ClassInsecta
- OrderDiptera
- FamilyCeratopogonidae
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Leptoconops (black gnat) is a midge genus in the family Ceratopogonidae. It has a mostly tropical or subtropical distribution worldwide, but some species occur as far north as Moscow region in Russia and the Yukon Territory in Canada.
This genus is relictual, having had a pantropical distribution during the Cretaceous. The presence of Leptoconops, along with Austroconops, in ancient Lebanese amber makes these the earliest existing lineages of biting midges. Extinct species have also been described from amber from Siberia, New Jersey, Canada, Hungary, Sakhalin, France, and Spain.