Bluetongue African horse sickness Haemoproteus Leucocytozoon spp. Onchocerca cevicalis Dipetalonema Mansonella perstans Mansonella ozzardi Culicoides

Culicoides is an important human and animal pest with great economic significance and a prime vector for various viruses like virus, virus, epizootic haemorrhagic disease, Akabane, Aino, Chuzan, and bovine ephemeral fever virus,Vesicularstomatitisvirus,EquineEncephalitisVirus (EEV),SchmallenbergVirus,protozoalike spp. and and Hepatocystis, avian Trypanosomes, Plasmodium in lizard and bird malaria and filarid worms like in horses. spp., and and in humans and various filarid worms of birds, mammals [1]. commonly known as biting midges is a nematocerous fly. It is one of the worlds smallest haematophagous flies measuring from 1 to 3 mm in size. The family Ceratopogonidae to which it belongs contains 125 genera and 5,500 species. Of these genera, four are known to contain species that suck the blood of vertebrates , (subgenus Lasiohelea), and More than 1400 species of genus have been identified worldwide of which about 96% are obligate blood feeders attacking mammals (including humans) and birds and occur on virtually all large land masses with the exception of Antarctica and New Zealand, ranging from the tropics to the tundra and from sea level to 4000 m [2]. In India 63 species of were identified morphologically and their prevalence reported by many authors from Kolkata [3, 4], Kolkata and the neighbouring areas [5], Assam and Bengal and parts of India [6], Chennai [7], Marathwada region of Maharashtra [8], Calcutta [9], Tamil Nadu [10, 11], Chittoor and Prakasam districts ofAndhra Pradesh [12] and Northern Karnataka [13] region but there is a very scanty information on these midges in most parts of India including Karnataka. A detailed study was essential to know the prevalent species of Culicoides in Bangalore rural and urban districts. In view of this scenario and lack of seasonal prevalence study in Karnataka, the present study was undertaken in Bangalore rural and urban districts.