Breeding Habitat Preferences of Major Culicoides Species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Germany.

ABSTRACT: Biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera, Ceratopognidae) are demonstrably or putatively involved in the transmission of both bluetongue (BTV) and Schmallenberg viruses (SBV) in Central Europe. Although these insects are ubiquitous in Europe, relatively little is known about their requirements in terms of breeding habitats and substrates. Culicoides species composition and relative abundance in potential breeding habitats were therefore studied at various locations in Northeastern Germany and one location in Western Germany by emergence trap collections. Forty-three potential breeding sites were analyzed in ten landscape structures, with 28,091 adult biting midges emerging from them. Among these, 2116 specimens belonged to the genus Culicoides. Species of the culicoid subgenus Avarit

SUBMITTER: Werner D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7400431 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature