Host preferences of PalaearcticCulicoidesbiting midges: implications for transmission of orbiviruses

Abstract

Feeding success depends on host availability, host defensive reactions and host preferences. Host choice is a critical determinant of the intensity at which pathogens are transmitted. The aim of the current study was to describe host preferences of Palaearctic Culicoides species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) Latreille using traps baited with the five different host species of poultry, horse, cattle, sheep and goat. Collections were carried out nightly in July and August 2009 in western France with three replicates of a 5 × 5 randomized Latin square (five sites, five hosts). Moreover, an ultraviolet (UV) light/suction trap was operated during host-baited collections to correlate Culicoides biting rates and UV light/suction trap catches. A total of 660 Culicoides belonging to 12 species, but comprised mainly of Culicoides scoticus Downes and Kettle, Culicoides dewulfi Goetghebuer and Culicoides obsoletus Meigen, were collected on animal baits. Abundance was highest for the horse, which accounted for 95% of all Culicoides caught, representing 10 species. The horse, the largest bait, was the most attractive host, even when abundance data were corrected by weight, body surface or Kleiber's scaling factor. Culicoides obsoletus was the only dominant species attracted by birds. Both C. scoticus and C. dewulfi were collected mainly from the upper body of the horse. Finally, the quantification of host preferences allows for discussion of implications for the transmission of Culicoides-borne pathogens such as bluetongue virus.

Orientation behaviour of Culicoides obsoletus (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), a relevant virus vector in northern Europe, toward host-associated odorant cues

“…Van der Rijt et al (2008) also reported that host infectious status affects host location by vectors, as suggested by Torres-Estrada and Rodriguez (2003) and Lacroix et al (2005). C. obsoletus also seemed to be attracted to heifer, goat and ewe, as well as birds (Viennet et al, 2013), although this species is considered to be strictly mammalophilic (Lassen et al, 2012). While some Culicoides species are opportunistic, most Palaearctic species appear to prefer cattle (Bartsch et al, 2009;Lassen et al, 2011;Ninio et al, 2011).…”

“…Most species of the genus Culicoides are known to be either mammalophilic (Hair and Turner, 1968;Foxi and Delrio, 2010;Garros et al, 2011;Calvo et al, 2012) or ornithophilic (Bennett, 1960;Hair and Turner, 1968;Garvin and Greiner, 2003;Mullens et al, 2006; Martinez-de la Puente et al, 2009;Votypka et al, 2009;Foxi and Delrio, 2010;Cerny et al, 2011), although some feed on reptiles or frogs. In a previous study using animal-baited traps, horses were found to be the most attractive hosts for the three main Palaearctic Culicoides species, including C. obsoletus (Viennet et al, 2013). C. obsoletus followed by Culicoides pulicaris L. 1758 was also the most abundant species found on horses (Van der Rijt et al, 2008).…”

“…In addition to host preference, the parts of host bodies attacked may differ among Culicoides species (Kettle, 1962;Nielsen, 1971;Viennet et al, 2013;Ayllón et al, 2014), especially due to variations in hair density and skin temperature. For example, C. obsoletus seems to feed preferentially on the belly regions of cattle and sheep (Nielsen, 1971;Schmidtmann et al, 1980).…”

“…Several studies have identified the origin of blood present in the abdomen of adult females that have recently fed -which represent a very small proportion of any collection (Service, 1969) -to determine the host range (Blackwell et al, 1994;Bartsch et al, 2009;Garros et al, 2011;Lassen et al, 2011Lassen et al, , 2012Ninio et al, 2011;Calvo et al, 2012;Martinez-de la Puente et al, 2012;Pettersson et al, 2013). Other researchers have collected Culicoides adult females directly from animals used as bait, predominantly with sticky traps or by aspiration (Viennet et al, , 2013Ayllón et al, 2014). Behavioural studies using olfactometers or wind or flight tunnels in which a specific number of biting insects are released are very rare (Bhasin et al, 2000b) due to the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of insects, given the complexity of maintaining many Culicoides species of interest under controlled conditions.…”

“…Although some Culicoides species are autogenous, the females of most species require a blood meal to facilitate egg maturation (Kettle, 1962;Glukhova and Dubrovskaia, 1972;Mellor et al, 2000). In general, many hematophagous species (such as mosquitoes and Culicoides) prefer a specific host on which they will feed (Kettle, 1962;Bartsch et al, 2009;Votypka et al, 2009;Lassen et al, 2012;Viennet et al, 2013), although some species are known to be generalists (Blackwell et al, 1994). Some Culicoides species, however, exhibit opportunistic feeding behaviour with respect to host distribution and density (Kettle, 1977;Garros et al, 2011;Lassen et al, 2011Lassen et al, , 2012Calvo et al, 2012).…”