Posted by John Carr on 03-11-2014 23:29
#5
Graeme Cocks wrote:
Culicoides clavipalpis Gp. sp. No. 11. This is a perfect match, however the species occurs in SE Queensland which is a long way from Townsville. So probably should just go with Culicoides clavipalpis group.
I would consider Townsville and SE Queensland close.
According to the map of ecoregions of Australia, there is a huge expanse of "tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannahs, and shrublands" extending from the northeastern corner of Western Australia to the northern part of NSW, bordered inland by desert and along the coast by patches of forest.
Townsville and Brisbane have similar climate, about a meter of rain per year and always above freezing.
In North America many species of insects range from southern Canada to northern Florida, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Plains, about 2,000 km in each direction. This region is bordered on the south by subtropical climate where winters are not cold enough to consistently freeze the ground, on the north by the transition to boreal forest, and on the west by the transition from forest to grassland or from grassland to mountains.
In the West patches of habitat are smaller and distributions often more restricted.