Habitat Characterization of Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in the Tafna Catchment of Western Algeria

Abstract

Physical Habitat characterization of black flies was performed in the Tafna Basin of Algeria, based primarily on stream size, substrate, and aquatic and riparian vegetation. A total of 143 samples were taken between April and October 2009 at 11 sampling sites in the Tafna catchment. Dams exerted an effect through a slowdown of flow and sedimentation of fine particles, eliminating coarse microhabitats favorable for black flies. Stream and substrate characteristics are key parameters that determined the microhabitats of the species. Of 10 species considered, four were widely present with significant plasticity for the stream and substrate. Four other species were more closely associated with faster streams and eroded substrate. A greater rheophilic tendency was found for Simulium bezzii (Corti), Simulium sergenti Edwards, Simulium quadrifila Grenier, Faure and Laurent and Simulium galloprovinciale Giudicelli, which represents a new record for Algeria.

Distribution and assemblage structure of black flies of the western Aures Mountains, Algeria (Diptera: Simuliidae)

“…Likewise, larvae of S. velutinum were often dominant in the Aures, occupying lowland sites. A result consistent with records found elsewhere in Algeria (Boudghane-Bendiouis et al 2014;Samraoui et al 2021). This taxon is also known to tolerate waters with a high load of organic matter (Gallardo-Mayenco & Toja 2002).…”

“…This result is similar to that obtained for the El Kala region (Samraoui et al 2021) and the Tafna River Basin (Boudghane-Bendiouis et al 2014), but differs from that obtained for the Seybouse River, where S. pseudequineum was the dominant taxon (Cherairia et al 2014). Simulium pseudequineum, confined to only two sites in the Aures, is often a widespread lowland species, inhabiting streams with large bed width and high water conductivity, both in the Maghreb (Boudghane-Bendiouis et al 2014;Cherairia et al 2014;Samraoui et al 2021) and the Iberian Peninsula (Gallardo-Mayenco & Toja 2002). The Seybouse River Basin may offer many opportunities for S. pseudequineum, which favours low-elevation sites, with a large river bed width and high water conductivity.…”

“…Two taxa, S. ornatum and S. velutinum were most widespread and abundant, dominating all other taxa recorded in the Aures. This result is similar to that obtained for the El Kala region (Samraoui et al 2021) and the Tafna River Basin (Boudghane-Bendiouis et al 2014), but differs from that obtained for the Seybouse River, where S. pseudequineum was the dominant taxon (Cherairia et al 2014). Simulium pseudequineum, confined to only two sites in the Aures, is often a widespread lowland species, inhabiting streams with large bed width and high water conductivity, both in the Maghreb (Boudghane-Bendiouis et al 2014;Cherairia et al 2014;Samraoui et al 2021) and the Iberian Peninsula (Gallardo-Mayenco & Toja 2002).…”

“…The presence of the S. ornatum group has been recorded in several studies for localities across Algeria, namely the Batna Department and Bouïra Province (Edwards 1923), Biskra Province (Belazzoug & Tabet-Derraz 1980), the Oued El Haï Basin (Arigue et al 2016), the Djurdjura Mountains (Lounaci et al 2000b), the Tlemcen Mountains (Gagneur & Clergue-Gazeau 1988;Boudghane-Bendiouis et al 2014), the Seybouse Basin (Cherairia et al 2014), and El Kala, north-eastern Algeria (Samraoui et al 2021).…”

“…Simulium pseudequinum was first recorded from Batna, Biskra, Bouira and Constantine (Edwards 1923). Thereafter, the species was collected in western Algeria from the Tlemcen Mountains (Gagneur & Clergue-Gazeau 1988;Boudghane-Bendiouis et al 2014) and Mascara Province (Parrot 1949). It was also recorded in the Djurdjura Mountains (Lounaci et al 2000a(Lounaci et al , 2000bHaouchine & Lounaci 2012), the Seybouse Basin (Cherairia et al 2014), the El Kala region (Samraoui et al 2021) and the Aures region (Belazzoug & Tabet-Derraz 1980;Oued El Haï Basin: Arigue et al 2016).…”