A phylogenetic analysis of the biting midges belonging to Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) subgenus Avaritia using molecular data.

Background: Within the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), the subgenus Avaritia is of particular interest as it contains a significant number of economically important vector species. Disagreements about the systematic classification of species within this subgenus have resulted in a taxonomic imbroglio.

Methods: A molecular phylogeny of the subgenus Avaritia was conducted to test the existing systematic classification, which is based on phenetic assessment of morphological characters.

Modelling the monthly abundance of Culicoides biting midges in nine European countries using Random Forests machine learning.

Background: Culicoides biting midges transmit viruses resulting in disease in ruminants and equids such as bluetongue, Schmallenberg disease and African horse sickness. In the past decades, these diseases have led to important economic losses for farmers in Europe. Vector abundance is a key factor in determining the risk of vector-borne disease spread and it is, therefore, important to predict the abundance of Culicoides species involved in the transmission of these pathogens.

Red deer () Did Not Play the Role of Maintenance Host for Bluetongue Virus in France: The Burden of Proof by Long-Term Wildlife Monitoring and Snapshots.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is a -borne pathogen infecting both domestic and wild ruminants. In Europe, the Red Deer () (RD) is considered a potential BTV reservoir, but persistent sylvatic cycle has not yet been demonstrated. In this paper, we explored the dynamics of BTV1 and BTV8 serotypes in the RD in France, and the potential role of that species in the re-emergence of BTV8 in livestock by 2015 (i.

Update of the species checklist of Culicoides Latreille, 1809 biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) of Morocco.

Background: Investigations of Culicoides fauna, including inventories, were carried out in Morocco at different periods after the country had faced major bluetongue and African horse sickness outbreaks. However, no comprehensive reference publication has provided a clear overview of the Culicoides species diversity. This study reviewed available data on Culicoides biting midge species in Morocco from 1968 to 2015 (published and grey literature in French and English) in order to revise the current checklist, in light of state of the art taxonomic and systematic knowledge, and confirmed the checklist with morphological and molecular identifications of specimens collected from the region of Rabat.

Monthly variation in the probability of presence of adult Culicoides populations in nine European countries and the implications for targeted surveillance.

Background: Biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are small hematophagous insects responsible for the transmission of bluetongue virus, Schmallenberg virus and African horse sickness virus to wild and domestic ruminants and equids. Outbreaks of these viruses have caused economic damage within the European Union. The spatio-temporal distribution of biting midges is a key factor in identifying areas with the potential for disease spread.

Spatial and temporal variation in the abundance of Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in nine European countries.

Background: Biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are vectors of bluetongue virus (BTV), African horse sickness virus and Schmallenberg virus (SBV). Outbreaks of both BTV and SBV have affected large parts of Europe. The spread of these diseases depends largely on vector distribution and abundance.

New species of the genus Culicoides (Diptera Ceratopogonidae) for Tunisia, with detection of Bluetongue viruses in vectors.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) and Epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) are double-stranded RNA orbiviruses of the Reoviridae family. Bluetongue virus and EHDV infect domestic and wild ruminants and they are transmitted by biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Since 1999, BTV outbreaks have occurred in Tunisia and 4 serotypes, BTV2, BTV1, BTV4 and BTV3, were involved in 2000, 2006, 2009, and 2016, respectively.

Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) midges, the vectors of African horse sickness virus--a host/vector contact study in the Niayes area of Senegal.

Background: African horse sickness (AHS) is an equine disease endemic to Senegal. The African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is transmitted to the mammalian hosts by midges of the Culicoides Latreille genus. During the last epizootic outbreak of AHS in Senegal in 2007, 1,169 horses died from this disease entailing an estimated cost of 1.

Morphological and molecular analysis of the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Slovakia with five new records.

The biodiversity of Culicoides from eastern Slovakia was investigated by light trapping. An integrative taxonomy approach combining DNA barcode sequence and morphological analyses was used to accurately identify specimens. Five species were newly recorded from Slovakia: Culicoides picturatus Kremer & Deduit, C.

Limits of a rapid identification of common Mediterranean sandflies using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.

A total of 131 phlebotomine Algerian sandflies have been processed in the present study. They belong to the species Phlebotomus bergeroti, Phlebotomus alexandri, Phlebotomus sergenti, Phlebotomus chabaudi, Phlebotomus riouxi, Phlebotomus perniciosus, Phlebotomus longicuspis, Phlebotomus perfiliewi, Phlebotomus ariasi, Phlebotomus chadlii, Sergentomyia fallax, Sergentomyia minuta, Sergentomyia antennata, Sergentomyia schwetzi, Sergentomyia clydei, Sergentomyia christophersi and Grassomyia dreyfussi. They have been characterised by sequencing of a part of the cytochrome b (cyt b), t RNA serine and NADH1 on the one hand and of the cytochrome C oxidase I of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) on the other hand.

First record of Culicoides oxystoma Kieffer and diversity of species within the Schultzei group of Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) biting midges in Senegal.

The Schultzei group of Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) is distributed throughout Africa to northern Asia and Australasia and includes several potential vector species of livestock pathogens. The taxonomy of the species belonging to this species group is confounded by the wide geographical distribution and morphological variation exhibited by many species. In this work, morphological and molecular approaches were combined to assess the taxonomic validity of the species and morphological variants of the Schultzei group found in Senegal by comparing their genetic diversity with that of specimens from other geographical regions.

Morphological description of the fourth instar larva: Culicoides cataneii and Culicoides sahariensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).

This study was carried out of the region of Monastir in Central Tunisia, between July and August 2010. Larvae were collected using a floatation technique with magnesium sulfate in mud samples. The fourth instar larva of Culicoides cataneii Clastrier, 1957 and Culicoides sahariensis Callot, Kremer, Bailly-Choumara, 1970 are described, illustrated and drawn.

Description of Culicoides paradoxalis sp. nov. from France and Portugal (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).

A new species, Culicoides paradoxalis Ramilo and Delécolle (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), is described from specimens collected in France (Corsica and southeast region) and Portugal. This species resembles Culicoides lupicaris Downes and Kettle, and can be distinguished from this species and from Culicoides newsteadi Austen by its wing pattern, in addition to the absence of spines on the tarsomere 4 of female mid leg. In male, the presence of two appendices on the sternite 9 together with the absence of sensilla coeloconica on the flagellomere 11 is also useful to distinguish these three species.

First report of 13 species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in mainland Portugal and Azores by morphological and molecular characterization.

The genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) contains important vectors of animal and human diseases, including bluetongue, African horse sickness and filariosis. A major outbreak of bluetongue occurred in mainland Portugal in 2004, forty eight years after the last recorded case. A national Entomological Surveillance Plan was initiated in mainland Portugal, Azores and the Madeira archipelagos in 2005 in order to better understand the disease and facilitate policy decisions.

Assessment of vector/host contact: comparison of animal-baited traps and UV-light/suction trap for collecting Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), vectors of Orbiviruses.

Background: The emergence and massive spread of bluetongue in Western Europe during 2006-2008 had disastrous consequences for sheep and cattle production and confirmed the ability of Palaearctic Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) to transmit the virus. Some aspects of Culicoides ecology, especially host-seeking and feeding behaviors, remain insufficiently described due to the difficulty of collecting them directly on a bait animal, the most reliable method to evaluate biting rates.Our aim was to compare typical animal-baited traps (drop trap and direct aspiration) to both a new sticky cover trap and a UV-light/suction trap (the most commonly used method to collect Culicoides).

Contribution to the knowledge of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) host preferences in France.

Knowledge on host-feeding pattern of blood-sucking insects helps to understand the epidemiology of a vector-born disease. We determined blood meal origin from blood-fed Culicoides thanks to molecular techniques. A set of primers was used to selectively amplify segment of vertebrates' prepronociceptin gene from abdomen of engorged Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae).

Suggesting synonymies? Comments on Kiehl et al. (2009) "the European vectors of Bluetongue virus: are there species complexes, single species or races in Culicoides obsoletus and C. pulicaris detectable by sequencing ITS-1, ITS-2 and 18S-rDNA?".

Species recognition and identification are crucial in any biological studies, especially when dealing with insect species involved in pathogen transmission. In recent years, molecular approaches have helped the clarification of systematic schemes and taxonomic status. Kiehl et al.

Molecular identification of Western European species of obsoletus complex (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) by an internal transcribed spacer-1 rDNA multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay.

In southern Europe, orbiviral diseases such as bluetongue (BT) have been assumed to have been largely transmitted by the classical Afro-Asian vector Culicoides imicola Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Recent outbreaks have occurred in regions where C. imicola is normally absent, supporting the theory that other species belonging to the Obsoletus or Pulicaris complexes may play a role in BT virus transmission.