A Population Study of the Culicoides Biting Midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Urban, Rural, and Forested Sites in a Cerrado Area of Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Culicoides biting midges are medically important haematophagous flies that transmit diseases to animals and humans. This work deals with the basic ecology of Culicoides populations in northeastern Brazil. Adult biting midge populations in and around urban and rural communities were sampled monthly from September 2007 to October 2008 with light traps. In total, 10,803 Culicoides midges representing 17 species were collected. The most frequently collected species were Culicoides paucienfuscatus (83%), Culicoides leopoldoi (12%), Culicoides insignis (2%), and Culicoides paraensis (1%). Trap catches and species diversity were highest in chicken shelters at both urban and rural sites, followed by pigsties. The Culicoides fauna is composed chiefly of species broadly distributed in the Neotropics. Domestic animals are important factors for attracting and maintaining biting midge populations in peridomiciliary areas, especially C. paucienfuscatus. Further work is needed to better understand abiotic and biotic factors affecting Culicoides populations of northeastern Brazil.

Field Evaluation of Light-Emitting Diode as Attractant for Blood-Sucking Midges of the GenusCulicoidesLatreille (Diptera: Culicomorpha, Ceratopogonidae) in the Brazilian Savanna

“…The two most frequent species showed no statistical difference concerning the number of individuals (U = 29.00, p = 07984). The species composition of biting midges depicted herein matches the previous findings of Silva and Carvalho (2013) and Carvalho and Silva (2014) for northeastern Brazil.…”

Determinação das fontes de repasto sanguíneo de Culicoides Latreille (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) em áreas rurais do norte do estado do Maranhão, Brasil

“…Os animais domésticos são importantes fatores de atração de populações de Culicoides para os peridomicílios (SILVA; CARVALHO, 2013). Nesses ambientes, várias espécies desses dípteros foram encontradas alimentadas com sangue de vertebrados (COSTA et al, 2013).…”

“…Com exceção de Costa et al (2013), os estudos sobre os Culicoides no estado do Maranhão ainda estão direcionados para o conhecimento da composição das espécies (SILVA; REBÊLO, 1999;BARROS et al, 2007;CARVALHO, 2013). As pesquisas sobre fontes alimentares vêm se concentrando em outros dípteros nematóceros, como os lebotomíneos, devido à sua importância como vetores das leishmanioses, um grupo de doenças endêmicas no estado do Maranhão (DIAS et al, 2003;OLIVEIRA-PEREIRA et al, 2008;FONTELES et al, 2009 …”

Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from an urban forest fragment in Central Amazon (Brazil): Effects of opening areas on abundance, richness, and composition

“…In previous studies in tropical regions, larvae of D. eloyi were associated with leaves of aquatic macrophytes (Díaz et al 2013. Culicoides larvae occur in a wide variety of aquatic and semiaquatic habitats and feed on debris with abundant organic matter (Silva and Carvalho 2013). Thus, the higher abundance of these two species in the closed area may be associated with higher inputs of detritus (mainly leaves) in the containers.…”

“…In non-forested and deforested areas, habitats are generally more exposed and may inhibit oviposition of most species (Yanoviak 1999a(Yanoviak , 2001). However, some species of Ceratopogonidae have been recorded at different urbanization levels and may occur in higher abundance in some anthropogenic areas (Rubio et al 2013, Silva andCarvalho 2013).…”