Tersesthes Townsend, 1893 Mycterotypus Noè, 1905 Schizoconops Kieffer,1918 Protersesthes Kieffer, 1921 Leptoconops (black gnat)[1] is a midge genus in the family Ceratopogonidae.

[2] It has a mostly tropical or subtropical distribution worldwide,[3] but some species occur as far north as Moscow region in Russia and the Yukon Territory in Canada.

[5] The presence of Leptoconops, along with Austroconops, in ancient Lebanese amber makes these the earliest existing lineages of biting midges.

[3] Extinct species have also been described from amber from Siberia, New Jersey, Canada, Hungary, Sakhalin, France,[4] and Spain.

They burrow in moist, usually saline, sand or mud of desert areas and coastal and inland beaches.