Investigation of Diel Activity ofCulicoidesBiting Midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in the United Kingdom by Using a Vehicle-Mounted Trap

Abstract

Truck trap collections of Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) were made during 2 yr of sampling from 2008 to 2009 at a farm site in southern England. Samples were collected from 810 sample runs carried out over 52 d and contained 7,095 Culicoides of which more than half (50.3%) were identified as Culicoides obsoletus Meigen by using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay. Other commonly encountered species included Culicoides scoticus Downes & Kettle (14.7% of total Culicoides caught), Culicoides dewulfi Goetghebuer (3.7%), and Culicoides chiopterus Meigen (4.2%). The activity rates of these species were examined with regard to both meteorological factors (light intensity, humidity, temperature, and wind speed and direction) and other potentially contributing variables (lunar phase and brightness, sunset time, and year) by using generalized linear models. All the species examined were collected in greater abundance at sunset, although the relationship between underlying light intensity and numbers was less pronounced in C. dewulfi and C. chiopterus. Collections of Culicoides were reduced at temperatures above 21 degrees C and were inversely related to wind speed. Variation between species was recorded, however, in response to wind direction: C. dewulfi and C. chiopterus were associated with prevailing winds passing through fields containing livestock, whereas C. obsoletus and C. scoticus demonstrated no such relationship. A male:female ratio of 1:3.56 was observed in catches, and male populations were protandrous. These results are discussed with reference both to the ecology of these species and methods currently used to predict adult Culicoides movement and abundance in Europe.

Influence of light and kairomone baiting systems on trap collections of biting midges in southern Sweden

“…Disregarding the few individuals caught in traps baited with incandescent light only, the overall diel pattern of midge captures included an increased abundance between ‐3 h and +3 h relative to sunset, with the peak occurring at sunset. Similar general patterns of activity have been reported for several species of Culicoides in Europe (Service 1971, Blackwell 1997, Sanders et al 2012, Viennet et al 2012, Ayllón et al 2014, Meiswinkel and Elbers 2016). Numbers of C. obsoletus complex and C. impunctatus females caught in UV light traps rose significantly at and after sunset.…”

“…Variation in trap design, placement, and bait can all affect estimates of Culicoides presence/absence, abundance, sex ratio, biting rate, and parity rate (Gerry et al 2009, Venter et al 2009, del Río et al 2013, Kirkeby and Stockmarr et al 2013, McDermott et al 2016). These biases complicate comparisons between studies of Culicoides employing traps of different design in varied placement patterns across different geographical areas (Venter and Hermanides 2006, Sanders et al 2012, Purse et al 2015).…”

Host-Seeking Activity of Bluetongue Virus Vectors: Endo/Exophagy and Circadian Rhythm of Culicoides in Western Europe

“…We cannot exclude that in context of higher Culicoides abundance, these species present a second, but lower peak of host-seeking activity around sunrise, as highlighted by Van der Rijt et al [20] for C. obsoletus (84 individuals collected at sunset versus 10 at sunrise). Indeed, Sanders et al [32] observed two peaks of flight activity for C. obsoletus , C. scoticus , C. dewulfi and C. chiopterus around both sunrise and sunset. Meteorological conditions are known to impact adult midge activity [29], [33].…”

Towards the PCR-based identification of Palaearctic Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae): results from an international ring trial targeting four species of the subgenus Avaritia

“…Despite this, the processing of large numbers of Culicoides to species level remained extremely rare and is limited to relatively small scale studies [13,49-52]. In this regard, the recent standardization of a real-time PCR assay for high-throughput processing of pools of C. obsoletus and C. scoticus allowing estimation of proportions of each species has substantial advantages over other available assays [48].…”