scholarly journals Blood meal analysis: host-feeding patterns of biting midges (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae, Culicoides Latreille) in Slovakia

Parasite ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Zuzana Kasičová ◽  
Andrea Schreiberová ◽  
Andrea Kimáková ◽  
Alica Kočišová
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Lepus Europaeus ◽  
Host Feeding ◽  
Apodemus Flavicollis ◽  
Small Rodents ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Culicoides Obsoletus ◽  
Blood Meal Analysis ◽  
Trophic Preferences ◽  
Blood Meals

Biting midges of the genus Culicoides are vectors of important pathogens affecting domestic and wild animals and have played a major role in the re-emergence of new outbreaks of bluetongue (BTV) and Schmallenberg (SBV) viruses in Europe. To determine vector-host specificity, trophic preference from blood meal analysis is of major importance in the surveillance of arthropod-borne diseases. Of 28,752 specimens collected, we identified 17 Culicoides species and investigated a total of 48 host sequences from the blood meals. Culicoides obsoletus/C. scoticus, C. dewulfi, C. pulicaris, C. lupicaris, C. punctatus, C. newsteadi, C. riethi, and C. furcillatus were found to feed on mammals (cattle, horses, and humans), birds (domestic chickens), small rodents (Apodemus flavicollis), and hares (Lepus europaeus). To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating trophic preferences of Culicoides spp. in Slovakia. This study demonstrated that Culicoides species are able to feed on domesticated host vertebrates as well as birds, rodents, and humans.

Host feeding patterns of Culicoides species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) within the Picos de Europa National Park in northern Spain

2012 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 692-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.H. Calvo ◽  
B. Berzal ◽  
C. Calvete ◽  
M.A. Miranda ◽  
R. Estrada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cytochrome B ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Host Feeding ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Feeding Patterns ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Blood Meals

AbstractBlood meal identification can provide information about the natural host-feeding patterns or preferences of Culicoides species. Such information could indirectly provide data indicating which reservoirs are significant in associated vector-borne diseases.We positively identified the host species through DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b gene in 144 of the 170 (84.7%) blood meal specimens tested. In the remaining samples, identification of the blood-meal source was unsuccessful, possibly due to the post-ingestion time prior to sampling or the availability of the species-specific cytochrome b gene sequences in the database. The majority of identified blood meals were derived from mammalian blood (95.8%), and only six contained chicken blood. We identified five species as mammalian hosts for Culicoides spp.: sheep (87.7%), human (6.5%), cattle (3.7%) and Savi's Pine Vole (Micrototus savii) (2.1%). The results suggested that large mammals, specifically ruminants, were most frequently fed upon by biting midges (Culicoides spp.), but evidence of opportunistic feeding behaviour was also found. Host feeding behaviour of Culicoides species may also be influenced by the relative abundance of a particular host species in the area being studied. In this sense, Savi's Pine Vole, a wild species, was found to be a locally relevant host and a putative reservoir for viruses transmitted by species of biting midges belonging to the Culicoides genus.Finally, feeding on multiple potential host species was observed. One midge acquired blood meals from human and chicken hosts, while four other midges fed on two different sheep.

scholarly journals Host-feeding Preference of Anopheles Species under Prolonged Use of Insecticide-treated Bed Nets in Kamuli District, Uganda: Implications for Vector Control

2020 ◽  
pp. 16-25
Author(s):  
Fredrick G. Kabbale ◽  
Anne M. Akol ◽  
John B. Kaddu ◽  
Enock Matovu ◽  
Anne Kazibwe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vector Control ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Malaria Vectors ◽  
Bed Nets ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Host Feeding ◽  
Bed Net ◽  
Insecticide Treated Bed Nets ◽  
Intervention Zone ◽  
Blood Meals

Background: The blood-feeding patterns are crucial in incriminating disease vectors as well as facilitating the design and consolidation of effective vector control interventions in an area.  Objective: This study aimed to establish if prolonged use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) caused a shift in the preferred hosts of the common malaria vectors as the hosts were under the bed net. Such a shift would render ITNs less effective and would probably explain the continued morbidity and mortality due to malaria in the highly endemic Kamuli district. Methods: A total of 3,519 indoor and outdoor human biting female Anopheles gambiae sensu lato and An. funestus mosquitoes were collected from 48 households using human-baited bed net traps. All 187 indoor resting blood-fed anophelines collected were tested by direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for blood meal host identification. Of these, 73 mid guts came from 24 households in villages with a 69% ITNs coverage, while 114 mid guts were from 24 households in non-ITN villages. Results: Blood meal hosts were identified in only 10.96% (n = 8) and 14.91% (n = 17) of the Anopheles blood meals from the intervention and non-intervention zones, respectively. Other blood meals could not be clearly identified.  Eight (100%) blood meals in the intervention zone were from humans, while in the non-intervention zone, 15 (88.24%), one (5.88%) and one (5.88%) came from humans, cattle and goat, respectively. These findings demonstrated that the malaria vectors in Kamuli district are anthropophilic, with nearly all the mosquitoes collected from both zones feeding on humans during every blood meal (p = 0.82). This indicated high vector-human contacts, and thus implicating these species as important in the transmission of Plasmodium species and probably other infections. Conclusion: The use of insecticide-treated bed nets is effective for controlling malaria vectors inside houses, evoking universal coverage of houses in the area.

scholarly journals The impact of small terrestrial mammals on beech (Fagus sylvatica) plantations in spruce monoculture

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 131-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luboš Purchart ◽  
Josef Suchomel
Keyword(s):  
Fagus Sylvatica ◽  
Forest Regeneration ◽  
Sorex Araneus ◽  
Clethrionomys Glareolus ◽  
Lepus Europaeus ◽  
Small Rodent ◽  
Apodemus Flavicollis ◽  
Small Rodents ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
The Impact

Little is known about the impact of small terrestrial mammals on forest regeneration as yet. In order to determine the level of small rodent impact on artificial forest regeneration, 508 saplings have been researched in a spruce monoculture in the Drahany Uplands. With the objective to hone the interpretation of the data, small terrestrial rodents were trapped to help determine species spectrum. The occurrence of Apodemus flavicollis, Clethrionomys glareolus and Sorex araneus was verified. In 52 cases damage to the trunk caused by small rodents was monitored (10.1% of all saplings). 8 specimens (1.6%) had their branches nibbled and 9 saplings (1.8%) had tips of branches or trunk tops browsed. Browsing by Lepus europaeus – 423 (83.3%) of all damaged specimens was significant.

Blood-Sucking Midges and Mosquitoes Feeding on Mammals at Beatrice Hill, N.T.

1981 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 573 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Muller ◽  
MD Murray ◽  
JA Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Haemagglutination Inhibition ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Light Traps ◽  
Intensive Study ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
Collection Methods ◽  
Blood Meals

One aspect of an intensive study of arboviruses and insect vectors at Beatrice Hill, N.T., was to determine the hosts of the insects by identifying the source of their blood meal. The collection methods included buffalo bait, calf- and chicken-baited Magoon traps, truck traps, light traps and collecting from insect resting places. Blood meals were identified by precipitin and haemagglutination-inhibition tests. Fifteen species of biting midges, mostly Culicoides spp., and 24 species of mosquitoes were represented in the collections, and the blood meals within 75% of some 11,000 insects were identified. The majority, 97.7%, of the blood meals were mammalian in origin, 76% being bovine and 17% marsupial. A significant proportion of the blood-fed mosquitoes from Magoon traps had fed on hosts other than the bait animal or collector. Double feeds were detected in 1.1% of the insects in which the source of the blood meal was identified. It was possible to draw conclusions about the feeding habits of most of the insect species.

scholarly journals Blood Meal Sources and Feeding Behavior of Anophelines Mosquitoes in Bure District, Northwestern Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilahun Wassie Adugna ◽  
Delensaw - Yewhelew ◽  
Emana - Degaga
Keyword(s):  
Human Blood ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Host Preference ◽  
Light Trap ◽  
Malaria Vectors ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Host Feeding ◽  
Human Blood Index ◽  
Blood Index ◽  
Blood Meals

Abstract Background: Mosquito blood meal sources determine their own feeding rates, adult survival, fecundity, hatching rates, and developmental times. The only female Anopheles mosquito takes blood meals from humans, birds, mammals, or other vertebrate animals for egg development. Studies of host preference patterns in blood-feeding anopheline mosquitoes are crucial to incriminating malaria vectors. However, the human blood index, foraging ration, and host preference index of anophelines mosquitoes were not known so far in Bure district Ethiopia.Methods: The origin of blood meals from all freshly fed and a few half-gravid exophagic and endophagic females collected using the center for disease control and prevention light trap catches were identified as human and bovine using Enzyme Linked Immune Sorbent Assay. Human blood index, forage ratio, and host feeding index were calculated.Results: A total of 617 specimens belonging to An. arabiensis (n = 209), An. funestus (n= 217), An. coustani (n= 123), An. squamosus (n= 54) and An. cinereus (n= 14) were only analyzed for blood ELISA. 577 of the overall specimens were positives for blood antigens of the host bloods. All anopheline mosquitoes assayed for blood meal sources had extremity mixed blood meals sources than single blood meals. The FR for a human was slightly > 1.0 than bovine for all Anopheles species. HFI for each pair of vertebrate hosts revealed that humans was a bit preferred blood meal source to bovine for all species (except An. squamosus), but did not exhibit a marked host selection.Conclusions: All assayed anopheline mosquitoes for blood meal ELISA had a mixed feed which tends to diminish the density of gametocytes in the mosquito stomach, thereby reducing the chance of fertilization of the female gamete and reduce the chances of malaria vector becoming infected. Moreover, An. coustani was the only species that had only human blood meal alone mean that this species has a potential to transmit the disease. Therefore, combination zooprophylaxis should be reinforced as a means of vector control because the study sites are mixed dwelling.

scholarly journals Understanding mosquito host-choice behaviour: a new and low-cost method of identifying the sex of human hosts from mosquito blood meals

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Teltscher ◽  
Sophie Bouvaine ◽  
Gabriella Gibson ◽  
Paul Dyer ◽  
Jennifer Guest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Host Choice ◽  
Epidemiological Models ◽  
Choice Behaviour ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Transmission Models ◽  
Blood Meals

Abstract Background Mosquito-borne diseases are a global health problem, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths per year. Pathogens are transmitted by mosquitoes feeding on the blood of an infected host and then feeding on a new host. Monitoring mosquito host-choice behaviour can help in many aspects of vector-borne disease control. Currently, it is possible to determine the host species and an individual human host from the blood meal of a mosquito by using genotyping to match the blood profile of local inhabitants. Epidemiological models generally assume that mosquito biting behaviour is random; however, numerous studies have shown that certain characteristics, e.g. genetic makeup and skin microbiota, make some individuals more attractive to mosquitoes than others. Analysing blood meals and illuminating host-choice behaviour will help re-evaluate and optimise disease transmission models. Methods We describe a new blood meal assay that identifies the sex of the person that a mosquito has bitten. The amelogenin locus (AMEL), a sex marker located on both X and Y chromosomes, was amplified by polymerase chain reaction in DNA extracted from blood-fed Aedes aegypti and Anopheles coluzzii. Results AMEL could be successfully amplified up to 24 h after a blood meal in 100% of An. coluzzii and 96.6% of Ae. aegypti, revealing the sex of humans that were fed on by individual mosquitoes. Conclusions The method described here, developed using mosquitoes fed on volunteers, can be applied to field-caught mosquitoes to determine the host species and the biological sex of human hosts on which they have blood fed. Two important vector species were tested successfully in our laboratory experiments, demonstrating the potential of this technique to improve epidemiological models of vector-borne diseases. This viable and low-cost approach has the capacity to improve our understanding of vector-borne disease transmission, specifically gender differences in exposure and attractiveness to mosquitoes. The data gathered from field studies using our method can be used to shape new transmission models and aid in the implementation of more effective and targeted vector control strategies by enabling a better understanding of the drivers of vector-host interactions.

Longevity of Anopheles maculipennis race atroparvus, van Thiel, at controlled Temperature and Humidity after one Blood Meal

1939 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. Leeson
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Small Proportion ◽  
Feeding Period ◽  
Anopheles Maculipennis ◽  
Culex Fatigans ◽  
Temperature And Humidity ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Blood Meals

From January to July 1938, experiments with Anopheles maculipennis race atroparvus, Van Thiel, were undertaken to discover whether humidity and the age at which the females fed influenced their longevity. It was found that they lived longer at higher than at lower humidities; that most of the females which fed did so in the first three days; that those which fed on the second day after emergence lived longer than those which fed at other ages; and that the feeding period was slightly extended in the later experiments, though only a small proportion lived long enough to take their first blood meals on the fourth and fifth days.Rather more than 50 per cent. of each batch of newly emerged adults were females.A large proportion of the deaths of unfed males and females occurred during the first three days, most of them on the second day; this mortality decreased in successive experiments.Culex fatigans, Wied., behaved similarly.

scholarly journals Blood Meal Analysis of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Central Tunisia

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. e0120528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darine Slama ◽  
Najoua Haouas ◽  
Habib Mezhoud ◽  
Hamouda Babba ◽  
Emna Chaker
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Central Tunisia ◽  
Blood Meal Analysis
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document