Diversity, Host-Feeding Patterns, and Oropouche Virus Surveillance in Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Western Brazilian Amazon
Abstract
Abstract Culicoides Latreille biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are hematophagous insects of medical and veterinary importance due to their role in arbovirus transmission. In the neotropical region, species diversity remains incompletely characterized, particularly in the Amazon Basin. This study assessed the diversity and composition of Culicoides in Rondônia, Brazil, compared assemblages between forest fragments and peridomiciliary environments, identified vertebrate blood meal sources, and evaluated the presence of Oropouche virus (OROV) RNA. Specimens were collected using light traps and protected human attraction and identified based on morphological characters. Blood meals were analyzed using mitochondrial DNA markers, and RT-qPCR performed OROV detection. A total of 1,058 specimens were examined, representing 76 taxa, including 46 identified species and 30 morphotypes. The most abundant species were Culicoides leopoldoi Ortíz, Culicoides glabellus Wirth & Blanton, and Culicoides pseudodiabolicus Fox. Nine species were recorded for the first time in Rondônia, including four new records for Brazil. Forest fragments exhibited higher species richness and diversity than peridomiciliary areas, which harbored fewer species but included taxa of epidemiological relevance. Blood meal analysis revealed a predominance of avian hosts, particularly Gallus gallus Linnaeus, as well as mammals, including humans, indicating opportunistic feeding behavior. No OROV RNA was…
Read the paper
Related studies
- The Matrisome: In Silico Definition and In Vivo Characterization by Proteomics of Normal and Tumor Extracellular Matrices
- The Escherichia coli MG1655 in silico metabolic genotype: Its definition, characteristics, and capabilities
- In silico pharmacology for drug discovery: methods for virtual ligand screening and profiling
- In silico prediction of splice-altering single nucleotide variants in the human genome
- In silico clinical trials: how computer simulation will transform the biomedical industry
- In silico optimization of a guava antimicrobial peptide enables combinatorial exploration for peptide design
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.