Physicochemical factors affecting the diversity and abundance of Afrotropical Culicoides species in larval habitats in Senegal

• Published in: Acta tropica Vol. 220; p. 105932
• Main Authors: Bakhoum, M.T., Fall, A.G., Seck, M.T., Fall, M., Ciss, M., Garros, C., Bouyer, J., Gimonneau, G., Baldet, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-08-2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: African horse sickness; Culicoides; Larval habitat; Life Sciences; Niayes area; Physicochemical parameters; Senegal; Niayes area; Larval habitat; African horse sickness; Senegal; Culicoides; Physicochemical parameters
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.105932

•We conducted a physico-chemical soil analysis of fourteen larval habitats in Senegal in order to define the physico-chemical factors that affect the abundance and diversity of Culicoides.•We identified three major habitat types, conditioning the predominant species of Culicoides.•These results showed that pH and the amount of organic matter were positively correlated with the abundance of larvae and emerging Culicoides, as opposed to salinity.•Furthermore, the diversity of emerging Culicoides was positively correlated with pH while it was negatively correlated with salinity.
Biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are the biological vectors of arboviruses of global importance in animal health. We characterized the physicochemical parameters that determine the density and composition of the main Culicoides species of veterinary interest in larval habitats of the Niayes region of Senegal. For this purpose, we combined larval and substrate sampling in the field in different habitat types with adult emergence and physicochemical analyses in the laboratory. Three major habitat types were identified, conditioning the predominant species of Culicoides and pH and the amount of organic matter were positively correlated with the abundance of larvae and emerging Culicoides, as opposed to salinity. The diversity of emerging Culicoides was positively correlated with pH while it was negatively correlated with salinity. Culicoides distinctipennis was the predominant species in the larval habitat group of freshwater lake edges. In the larval habitat group of pond and puddle edges, C. oxystoma and C. nivosus were predominant; both species were again most abundant in the larval habitat group of saltwater lake edges. These variabilities in physicochemical parameters support the distribution of different Culicoides species in different habitat groups. These results make it possible to implement effective, selective and environmental-friendly control measures but also to improve current models for estimating the abundance of adult vector populations at a local scale.
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