Herein, we describe the first case of a natural infection of biting midges by a kinetoplastid protozoan. Flagellates from a female Culicoides kibunensis captured in a bird's nest were introduced into culture and characterized by light and electron microscopy. However, because the morphological data were inconclusive, the novel endosymbiont-free trypanosomatid was assigned into Herpetomonas primarily on the basis of the 18S and 5S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences.

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