Species Diversity and Seasonal Distribution of <i>Culicoides</i> spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Jeju-do, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Biting midges belonging to the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) were collected by Mosquito Magnet® and black light traps at 5 sites on Jeju-do, Republic of Korea (Korea), from May-November 2013 to determine species diversity and seasonal distribution. A total of 4,267 specimens were collected, of which 99.9% were female. The most common species was Culicoides tainanus (91.8%), followed by C. lungchiensis (7.2%) and C. punctatus (0.6%), while the remaining 4 species accounted for <0.5% of all Culicoides spp. that were collected. High numbers of C. tainanus were collected in May, followed by decreasing numbers through August, and then increasing numbers through November when surveillance was terminated. Peak numbers of C. lungchiensis were collected during September, with low numbers collected from May-August and October-November. The presence of C. lungchiensis in Korea was confirmed by morphological and molecular analyses.

Detection of bluetongue virus in Culicoides spp. in southern Yunnan Province, China

“…The detection of BTV in specimens of this species from China appears to be the first evidence of a direct association between BTV and C. imicola in Asia. Similarly, the detection of BTV from C. tainanus represents the fourth report of an association of this species with BTV [18,19] which, combined with reports on its dominance in collections from cattle farms [28][29][30], suggests this species may be an important vector of BTV in the region. The absence of infected specimens from 250 specimens of C. subgenus Trithecoides and 105 specimens of C. oxystoma (Table 3) would appear to suggest that these species are less important in terms of BTV epidemiology, but as the proportion of these specimens that were parous is unknown, it is difficult to draw conclusions about these negative results.…”

“…The detection of BTV in specimens of this species from China appears to be the first evidence of a direct association between BTV and C. imicola in Asia. Similarly, the detection of BTV from C. tainanus represents the fourth report of an association of this species with BTV [ 18 , 19 ] which, combined with reports on its dominance in collections from cattle farms [ 28 – 30 ], suggests this species may be an important vector of BTV in the region. The absence of infected specimens from 250 specimens of C .…”

Seasonal Abundance of Culicoides at Yongsan US Army Garrison (USAG) and Camp Humphreys USAG, Republic of Korea, 2010-2013 and 2014-2017

“…A recent summary of the history of Culicoides spp. and their seasonal prevalence for 9 cowsheds in the southern part of the Korea [9] and Jeju Island [10] were reported, along with 3 new species records (C. nasuensis Kitaoka, C. pallidulus Yu, and C. jacobsoni Macfie) [11], bringing the total number of Culicoides spp. reported in Korea to 31.Vector-borne disease surveillance, including concurrent collections of mosquitoes, Culicoides spp., and other biting flies using New Jersey (NJ) light traps, was conducted by Force Health Protection & Preventive Medicine (FHP&PM), 65th Medical Brigade (MED BDE)/Medical Department Activity-Korea (MEDDAC-K).…”

DNA barcoding and surveillance sampling strategies for Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in southern India

“…The sequence difference between C. peregrinus specimens from China, Japan, India and Thailand was 1.2–1.7 %. However, Australian specimens have been the basis of C. peregrinus BTV vector incrimination studies [ 93 ] and the south Indian specimens of C. peregrinus assessed within this study show only limited sequence divergence (mean sequence difference: 2.0 % (1.8–2.3 %) from specimens recently collected in Australia (GenBank: KR075719–KR075721) [ 94 ], indicating these associations are intraspecific and are still valid.…”