The spatio-temporal distribution patterns of biting midges of the genus Culicoidesin Salta province, Argentina

CECILIA A. VEGGIANI AYBAR, MARÍA J. DANTUR JURI, MIRTA SANTANA, MERCEDES S. LIZARRALDE DE GROSSO AND GUSTAVO R. SPINELLI

JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE

UNIV ARIZONA

Lugar: Arizona; Año: 2012 vol. 12 p. 1 - 10

1536-2442

The goal of this survey was to analyze the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of Culicoides Latreille species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and their relationship with environmental variables in Salta, northwestern Argentina. Culicoideswere collected monthly from January 2003 through December 2005. The influence of the climatic variables on population abundance was analyzed with a multilevel Poisson regression. A total of 918 specimens belonging to five species were collected. Themost abundant species was Culicoides paraensisGoeldi (65.5%), followed by Culicoides lahillei Iches (14.6%) and Culicoides debilipalpisLutz (7.6%). The highest seasonal abundance for C. paraensis, C. debilipalpisand C. lahilleioccurred during the spring and summer. A Poisson regression analysis showed that the mean maximum and minimum temperature and the mean maximum and minimum humidity were the variables with the greatest influence on the population abundance of Culicoides species.