title: Picky eaters are rare: DNA-based blood meal analysis of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) species from the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Biting 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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These 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.
authors.affiliation: USDA-APHIS-National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 Laporte Ave., Fort Collins, CO, 80521, USA. mhopken@rams.colostate.edu.|Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, 1474 Campus Delivery Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA. mhopken@rams.colostate.edu.|Present address: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, 0922 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-0922, USA. mhopken@rams.colostate.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Hopken
authors.affiliation: Lake County Vector Control District, 410 Esplanade St, Lakeport, CA, 95453, USA.
authors.forename: Bonnie M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, 1474 Campus Delivery Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Huyvaert
authors.affiliation: USDA-APHIS-National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 Laporte Ave., Fort Collins, CO, 80521, USA.
authors.forename: Antoinette J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Piaggio
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D002519:Ceratopogonidae / Q000502:physiology*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D058507:Host Specificity; D062407:Meals; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Blood meal; Bluetongue virus; Culicoides; Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus; Haemosporidia; Mitochondrial DNA; Vector