Picky eaters are rare: DNA-based blood meal analysis of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) species from the United States

Abstract

BackgroundBiting midges in the genus Culicoides (Diptera; Ceratopogonidae) have been implicated in the transmission of a number of parasites and highly pathogenic viruses. In North America, the complete transmission cycles of many of these pathogens need further elucidation. One way to increase our knowledge about the evolution and ecology of Culicoides species and the pathogens they transmit is to document the diversity of vertebrate hosts that Culicoides feed upon. Our objective was to identify the diversity of Culicoides hosts in the United States.ResultsWe sequenced two vertebrate mitochondrial genes (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and cytochrome b) from blood-engorged Culicoides to identify Culicoides species and their blood meals. We detected the mitochondrial DNA of 12 host species from seven different Culicoides species from three states. The majority of the identified blood meals were from the C. variipennis species complex in California. The hosts included both mammals and birds. We documented new host records for some of the Culicoides species collected. The majority of the mammalian hosts were large ungulate species but we also detected a lagomorph and a carnivore. The bird species that were detected included house finch and emu; the latter is evidence that the species in the C. variipennis species complex are not strictly mammalophilic.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that Culicoides will feed on multiple classes of vertebrates and may be more opportunistic in regards to host choice than previously thought. This knowledge can help with identification of susceptible host species, pathogen reservoirs, and new vector species which, in turn, will improve disease outbreak risk assessments.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2099-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Host Associations Of Biting Midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae: Culicoides) Near Sentinel Chicken Surveillance Locations In Florida, USA

“…This study documents the 1st instance of any species of Culicoides feeding upon an invasive reptile, the brown basilisk in Florida. Results of this study do not support the conclusion that Culicoides species are opportunistic in regards to host choice (Hopken et al 2017). Although host preference was not assessed via calculations of forage ratios, significant differences in the distributions of mammal and bird blood meals from sympatric Culicoides species with access to the same vertebrate hosts, including sentinel chickens, suggests that host selection is occurring.…”

Culicoides species composition and molecular identification of host blood meals at two zoos in the UK

“…This could be due to a combination of blood being partially digested by the time the Culicoides was trapped, DNA degradation from time spent in storage, or samples not being transferred to ethanol quickly enough following collection. Improper storage has been noted previously as a reason for lower success rates of blood meal identification [52]. Twenty-four of the 68 blood-fed specimens processed for blood meal analysis contained only partial blood meals and of these, a total of 15 failed to amplify.…”

Blood-meal analysis of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) reveals a broad host range and new species records for Romania

“…In contrast, other studies speculated that such similarities in host-feeding patterns are not necessarily driven by phylogenetic relatedness, but might be the result of other factors (e.g. body size-driven host choice due to larger emissions of CO 2 or volatile compounds) [71].…”

“…The broad host choice matches previous studies, which find similar results for different Culicoides spp. [70,71]. Humans and carrion crow were the only hosts of C. submaritimus (n = 8).…”