From forests to fields: investigatingCulicoides(Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) abundance and diversity in cattle pastures and adjacent woodlands

Abstract

AbstractCulicoidesLatreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) biting midges are hematophagous flies that feed on wild and domestic ruminants, and transmit many arboviruses, including bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) circulating in the United States (US). They occupy a range of aquatic and semiaquatic habitats, and disperse short distances from their development sites. In the southeastern US there are limited studies on the abundance and diversity ofCulicoidesin wooded and adjacent livestock pasture habitats. In thus study, we characterizedCulicoidesdiversity and abundance within these distinct habitat types by setting BG-Sentinel and CDC miniature suction traps baited with CO2or UV-light in wooded and pasture habitats at two locations on a university beef farm in Savoy, AR. Traps were set once per week for nine weeks in August-October of 2021-2022. Fifteen species were collected during this study. The two most abundant species wereCulicoides haematopotusMalloch andCulicoides stelliferCoquillett. There was a significant effect of site and location onC. haematopotuscollections, and a significant effect and interaction of site and trap onC. stellifercollections. In the woods, significantly moreC. stelliferwere collected from the CDC-UV trap, while in the pasture, significantly more were collected in the CDC-CO2trap. These data suggest thatC. stellifer, a putative vector of BTV and EHDV in the southeast, may be traveling into the pasture to host-seek, whileC. haematopotusremains primarily in the woods. This study reveals community differences between these habitat types and implications forCulicoidescontrol.