Phylogenetic relationships of the subgenus Avaritia
Fox, 1955 including Culicoides obsoletus (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) in Italy based on internal transcribed spacer 2 ribosomal DNA sequences

Abstract

Biting midges of the genus Culicoides include vector species for orbiviral diseases, such as bluetongue and African horse sickness. Although the Afro-Asiatic species C. imicola is the major vector of bluetongue in the Mediterranean basin, recent outbreaks in regions where C. imicola is absent has incriminated other Culicoides, including those belonging to the Obsoletus Complex of the subgenus Avaritia Fox, 1955. The classical taxonomy of this species complex is unclear and this stimulated the molecular analysis of twenty Culicoides populations sampled from eighteen localities across Italy. Ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 sequences were used to characterize the intra-and interspecific variation between Italian members of the Obsoletus Complex and related species, by means of an analysis of molecular variance and phylogenetic analyses. Although morphological differentiation is often extremely difficult, the molecular analysis clearly demonstrated a high degree of divergence between most species. The study showed that at least seven species of the subgenus Avaritia occur in Italy; these are C. obsoletus, C. scoticus, C. montanus, C. dewulfi, C. imicola and two species that could not be identified with certainty, but one of which is similar to C. chiopterus. Finally, a simple polymerase chain reaction assay was developed that rapidly discriminates between four members of the Obsoletus Complex in Italy, a prerequisite for vector identification.

The phenology and population dynamics of Culicoides spp. in different ecosystems in The Netherlands

“…Subgenus Avaritia: this subgenus comprises the taxa C. obsoletus/C. scoticus, C. dewulfi and C. chiopterus as well as the African vector C. imicola (Gomulski et al, 2005). C. obsoletus and C. scoticus have been incriminated as bluetongue vectors in Italy (De Liberato et al, 2005).…”

“…Samples were identified to the nearest taxon using keys kindly provided by Dr. S. Carpenter, Institute of Animal Health, Pirbright, UK and with information provided by Meiswinkel et al (2004) and Gomulski et al (2005). Temperature data were available from 46 weather stations of MeteoConsult (ALWeer database, Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre).…”

Blood-feeding, susceptibility to infection with Schmallenberg virus and phylogenetics of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the United Kingdom

“…Such data will then make decisions whether the observed sequence diversity represents novel species or potentially species that require resurrection from synonymy permissible, e.g. C. dobyi Callot & Kremer [67]. To resolve these issues it is particularly important that specimens are collected from the species type-locality in order to confirm that subsequent specimens are in fact conspecific (see Harrup et al [68] for review).…”

Phenotypic differentiation and phylogenetic signal of wing shape in western European biting midges, Culicoides spp., of the subgenus Avaritia

“…2) reconstructed on the basis of published molecular trees (Meiswinkel et al, 2004;Gomulski et al, 2005;Mathieu et al, 2007;Nolan et al, 2007;Schwenkenbecher et al, 2009). Additionally, congruence between morphometric data and the molecular phylogeny reconstructed with our own data was also tested.…”

“…Several previous works have attempted to reconstruct the phylogeny of the Obsoletus group employing molecular markers such as the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and internal transcribed spacer regions I (ITSI) and II (ITSII) (Meiswinkel et al, 2004;Gomulski et al, 2005;Mathieu et al, 2007;Nolan et al, 2007;Schwenkenbecher et al, 2009). Phylogenetic relationships among species of the Obsoletus group obtained from these studies are far from conclusive and conflicting results have been produced (reviewed by Schwenkenbecher et al, 2009).…”