Seasonal abundance of biting midges, Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), collected at cowsheds in the southern part of the Republic of Korea.
Black light traps were used to measure the seasonal and geographical distribution of Culicoides spp. (biting midges or no-see-ums) at 9 cowsheds in the southern half of the Republic of Korea (ROK) from June through October 2010. A total of 25,242 Culicoides females (24,852; 98.5%) and males (390; 1.5%) comprising of 9 species were collected. The most commonly collected species was Culicoides punctatus (73.0%) followed by C. arakawae (25.7%), while the remaining 7 species accounted for <1.0% of all Culicoides spp. collected. The mean number of Culicoides spp. collected per trap night (Trap Index [TI]) was highest for C. punctatus (409.3), followed by C. arakawae (144.2), C. tainanus (4.1), C. oxystoma (1.2), C. circumscriptus (0.7), C. homotomus (0.6), C. erairai (0.4), C. kibunensis (0.3), and C. nipponensis (0.04). Peak TIs were observed for C. punctatus (1,188.7) and C. arakawae (539.0) during July and August, respectively. C. punctatus and C. arakawae have been implicated in the transmission of arboviruses and other pathogens of veterinary importance that adversely impact on animal and bird husbandry.
5th Medical Detachment, 168th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 65th Medical Brigade, Unit 15247, APO AP 96205-5247, Seoul, Korea.
Heung Chul
HC
Kim
Glenn A
GA
Bellis
Myung-Soon
MS
Kim
Sung-Tae
ST
Chong
Dong-Kyu
DK
Lee
Jee-Yong
JY
Park
Jung-Yong
JY
Yeh
Terry A
TA
Klein
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002519:Ceratopogonidae / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008297:Male; D058974:Phylogeography; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012621:Seasons