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Monitoring of Ceratopogonidae in Southwest Germany

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Abstract

Within the entomological monitoring program of the German federal ministry of food, agriculture, and user protection (BMELV), at 12 cattle farms in Rhineland-Palatinate and two in Saarland, ultraviolet lamp traps were used to monitor the distribution and seasonal appearance of potential vectors of the bluetongue virus, with special consideration of species of Culicoides. Using the traps during the first seven nights of each month from April 2007 to May 2008, 5,000–120,000 ceratopogonids were caught at different locations, in total about 500,000 and mainly females. Ninety-four percent belonged to the genus Culicoides, and of these, 90% were Culicoides obsoletus s.l., 6% were Culicoides pulicaris s.l., and 4% were other species of this genus. In all traps, the first ceratopogonids were caught in April 2007, the total number peaking in August 2007. After a reduction in September, a lower peak occurred in October. During the whole winter, some ceratopogonids were active. At nearly all locations, the total numbers of C. obsoletus s.l., C. pulicaris s.l., and of other ceratopogonids were significantly correlated with the temperatures, and higher population densities of C. obsoletus s.l. seemed to occur at altitudes of about 300 m above sea level.

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Acknowledgements

We very much appreciate the funding of the project by the German federal ministry of food, agriculture, and user protection (BMELV) and the help of all farmers. We also thank A. Albring, D. Bellhoff, H. Boeddinghaus, I. Busch, R. Cassada, R. Conrad, A. Gajewski, J. Jesiek, L. Johrden, N. Kalweit, L. Klenner, M. Lucht, B. Meiser, M. Oldenburg, J. Pausch, T. Reichelt, J. Sareyka, I. Schalow, B. Schattling, S. Schulz, A. Schwarz, D. Segelcke, C. Soukou, and M. Stein for the separations of the different groups of insects and/or the evaluation of the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoology/Parasitology Group, Ruhr-University, 44780, Bochum, Germany

    Bettina Vorsprach, Christian Karl Meiser, Carsten Balczun & Günter A. Schaub

  2. Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung, Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Müncheberg, Germany

    Doreen Werner

Authors
  1. Bettina Vorsprach
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  2. Christian Karl Meiser
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  3. Doreen Werner
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  4. Carsten Balczun
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  5. Günter A. Schaub
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Correspondence to Christian Karl Meiser.

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Bettina Vorsprach and Christian Karl Meiser contributed equally to this study.

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Vorsprach, B., Meiser, C.K., Werner, D. et al. Monitoring of Ceratopogonidae in Southwest Germany. Parasitol Res 105, 337–344 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-009-1411-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-009-1411-3

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