Frequency, diversity, and productivity study on the Aedes aegypti most preferred containers in the City of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

The most preferred containers by Aedes aegypti were studied April and July (rainy and dry periods) in two Manaus neighbourhoods. In all, 2,700 premises and 13,912 containers were examined, most (87%) recorded outdoors. Out of the 13,100 inspected premises, only 1.6% showed to be positive for Aedes aegypti, summing up to 7,916 collected samples. Most frequently found containers outdoors in either neighbourhood regardless of rain or dry period were Bottles flasks and Storage, and indoors, Fixed, Flowerpots, and buckets. Productivity was estimated according to the number of premises and positive containers investigated, showing the actual container groups productivity. Considering both rainy and dry periods outdoors at Praça 14 the groups of Tyre, Flask, Bottle, Construction Equipment and Fixed, had the highest averages respectively. Construction Equipment and Flask groups were the most productive in Coroado in April. Flask, Construction Equipment and Storage groups stood out in July

The biting habits of Culicoides furens (Poey) and C. barbosai Wirth & Blanton. I. The 24-h cycle, with a note on differences between collectors

This paper reports the results of a field experiment on Florida beach, Falmouth, Jamaica, in which continuous observations were made on the biting rates of Culicoides furens (Poey) (7 707 specimens) and C. barbosai Wirth & Blanton (3 793 specimens) over two 48-h sessions in January 1960. Catches were standardised by the use of correction factors previously calculated. The standardisation experiments also provided additional information on parts of the 24-h cycle, particularly sunrise and sunset

The flight of <i>Culicoides impunctatus</i> Goetghebuer (Diptera, ceratopogonidae) over moorland and its bearing on midge control.

In the summer of 1958, experiments were conducted in the vicinity of Brunston Muir, Midlothian, 11 miles SE. of Edinburgh, to measure the flight range of Culicoides impunctatus Goetgh. from its breeding site in the direction of the prevailing south-westerly wind. Thirty-six sticky traps were exposed for six weeks from 27th May to 7th July and captured 23,211 specimens of Culicoides, of which 20,105 were of C. impunctatus (7,207 males and 12,898 females).Eleven of the traps were arranged in a line over 1,200 yd. The catch of females did not alter for 400 yd., then decreased to a new level which remained constant from 600 to 1,200 yd. This decrease was associated more with the absence of livestock after 550 yd. than with any density/distance regression. The male distribution was similar to that of the females.Ten more traps stretched over 750 yd. and again no regression was discernible. The female distribution was affected more by the availability of hosts than distance from the breeding site. The male distribution here was different. They appeared to pass less readily through a gap in a narrow belt of woodland than did the females.</jats:p

Oogenesis in culicoides brevitarsis kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and the development of a plastron-like layer on the egg

In C. brevitarsis the mature egg was 290 μm long, average fecundity was 31-3, and duration of oogenesis 30-50 h at 24-26°C. When the first blood meal was consumed oocytes ranged from stage N0 to I, and 95.8% of females were mated; after a partial blood meal fewer oocytes were initiated and even fewer matured. It is highly likely that C. brevitarsis is anautogenous. Oocytes develop through the same stages as other Culicoides. Chorion developed well below the sheath in late stage IV, causing a reduction in width of oocytes at maturation. Ansulae develop in the space between the sheath and chorion by outward sclerotization, possibly along pore canals; they vary from tall (8-9 μm) and broad on the concave surface to short (5-6,μm) and narrow on the convex surface; those on the concave surface probably act as a plastron. The sheath surrounding the stage IV oocyte is destroyed during maturation. The secondary oocyte commences development when the primary is at stage III, and its development is arrested at either stage N or I almost simultaneously with the primary oocyte completing development. Development of the secondary oocyte is initiated but not controlled by development of the primary in the same ovariole

Habitats of Culicoides spp. in an intertidal zone of southeast Queensland, Australia.

The distribution of immature Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in the intertidal zone was investigated at Redland Bay near Brisbane, southeast Queensland. The aims of this study were to determine the distribution of Culicoides immatures and to identify environmental factors influencing these distributions. Light trapping of adult midges indicated that C.subimmaculatus Lee & Reye, C.marmoratus (Skuse), C.longior Hagan & Reye, C.henryi Lee & Reye, C.cordiger Macfie, may have been breeding in the study site. Soil sampling on six transects traversing mangrove and salt-marsh revealed the breeding habitats from which immature stages of the first four species were obtained. The elevation, vegetation and soils of positive sites were recorded and analysed for each species of Culicoides. The distribution of intertidal vegetation (mangroves and salt-marsh plants) was compared to MacNae's (1966) system of mangrove zonation for eastern Australia. The distribution of immature Culicoides did not correspond with mangrove zones, but was related to the presence or absence of intertidal vegetation. C.subimmaculatus was closely associated with a particular substrate and the presence of burrowing crabs