title: Foraging range of arthropods with veterinary interest: New insights for Afrotropical Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) using the ring method.
abstract: The identification of blood meal source of arthropod vector species contributes to the understanding of host-vector-pathogen interactions. The aim of the current work was to identify blood meal source in Culicoides biting midge species, biological vectors of internationally important arboviruses of livestock and equids, using a new ecological approach. We examined the correlation between blood meal source identified in engorged Culicoides females collected in a suction light trap and the available vertebrate hosts along four rings (200, 500, 1000 and 2000 m) centered at the trap site and described the foraging range of the three main vector species of veterinary interest present in the study area, Culicoides imicola, Culicoides kingi and Culicoides oxystoma. The study was performed in four sites localized in the Niayes region of Senegal (West Africa) where recent outbreaks of African horse sickness occurred. Blood meal source identification was carried out by species-specific multiplex PCRs with genomic DNA extracted from the abdomen of engorged females collected during nine night collections for twenty-six collections. The four most abundant hosts present in the studied area (horse, cattle, goat and sheep) were surveyed in each ring zone. The blood meal source varied according to Culicoides species and host availability in each site. C. oxystoma and C. imicola females mainly fed on horses readily available at 200 m maximum from the trap location whereas females of C. kingi fed mainly on cattle, at variable distances from the traps (200 to 2000 m). C. oxystoma may also feed on other vertebrates. We discuss the results in relation with the transmission of Culicoides-borne arboviruses and the species dispersion capacities.
authors.affiliation: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, BP 2057 Dakar, Hann, Senegal; Cirad, UMR CMAEE, 34398 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: thierno.bakhoum@cirad.fr.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Bakhoum
authors.affiliation: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, BP 2057 Dakar, Hann, Senegal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fall
authors.affiliation: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, BP 2057 Dakar, Hann, Senegal.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Seck
authors.affiliation: Cirad, UMR CMAEE, 34398 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gardès
authors.affiliation: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, BP 2057 Dakar, Hann, Senegal.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Fall
authors.affiliation: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, BP 2057 Dakar, Hann, Senegal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diop
authors.affiliation: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, BP 2057 Dakar, Hann, Senegal.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mall
authors.affiliation: Cirad, UMR CMAEE, 34398 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Balenghien
authors.affiliation: Cirad, UMR CMAEE, 34398 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baldet
authors.affiliation: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, BP 2057 Dakar, Hann, Senegal; Cirad, UMR CMAEE, 34398 Montpellier, France; CIRDES, BP454, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gimonneau
authors.affiliation: Cirad, UMR CMAEE, 34398 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garros
authors.affiliation: Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles, Laboratoire National d'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires, BP 2057 Dakar, Hann, Senegal; Cirad, UMR CMAEE, 34398 Montpellier, France. Electronic address: jeremy.bouyer@cirad.fr.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bouyer
mesh_terms: D000354:Africa, Western / Q000453:epidemiology; D000355:African Horse Sickness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D000356:African Horse Sickness Virus; D000818:Animals; D001179:Arthropod Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D002417:Cattle / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D002519:Ceratopogonidae; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology*; D006736:Horses / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D058507:Host Specificity; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D012675:Senegal / Q000453:epidemiology; D012756:Sheep / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: African horse sickness; Culicoides; Foraging range; Host preferences; Senegal