Spatial feeding preferences of ornithophilic mosquitoes, blackflies and biting midges

0359459 - BC 2012 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Černý, O. - Votýpka, Jan - Svobodová, M.
Spatial feeding preferences of ornithophilic mosquitoes, blackflies and biting midges.
Medical and Veterinary Entomology. Roč. 25, č. 1 (2011), 104-108. ISSN 0269-283X. E-ISSN 1365-2915
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60220518
Keywords : Culex * Culicoides * Eusimulium * Trypanosoma * height preferences * ornithophilic Diptera
Subject RIV: GJ - Animal Vermins ; Diseases, Veterinary Medicine
Impact factor: 1.910, year: 2011

The section of habitat used by particular bloodsucking insects when seeking bloodmeals may influence the spectrum of hosts to which they have access and consequently the diseases they transmit. The vertical distribution of ornithophilic bloodsucking Diptera (Culicidae, Simuliidae and Ceratopogonidae) was studied using bird-baited traps set at both ground and tree canopy levels. In total, 1240 mosquito females of eight species, 1201 biting midge females of 11 species, and 218 blackfly females of two species were captured during 2003-2005. Culex pipiens (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) was found to prefer ground-level habitats, whereas Anopheles plumbeus (Stephens) (Diptera: Culicidae), biting midges [Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)] and Eusimulium angustipes (Edwards) (Diptera: Simuliidae) preferred the canopy. Cx. pipiens behaviour differ from those of most previous studies and may indicate different spatial feeding preferences in geographically separate populations.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0197245