Blood-feeding Diptera (Culicidae and Ceratopogonidae) in an urban park of the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country, Spain)

Haematophagous and synanthropic Diptera are responsible for the transmission of several pathogenic agents to humans, domestic and wild animals, causing diverse vector-borne diseases of paramount importance. The presence of these blood-feeding insects is well reported in many areas of the world; however, the distribution in anthropogenic zones has not been studied so far across Spain. In order to gather information on this entomofauna in urban environments, adult stages were collected using an automatic entomological aspirator during the summer season in street lamps of a public park located in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country, Spain). A total of 333 culicids from four species were collected in a two-year sampling period: Culex pipiens (91.3%), Culiseta longiareolata (8.1%), Culiseta litorea (0.3%) and Culex hortensis hortensis (0.3%). Moreover, 225 Culicoides specimens belonging to six different species were trapped: Culicoides punctatus (61.3 %), Culicoides obsoletus s.s. (16.8%), Culicoides duddingstoni (13.3%), Culicoides kibunensis (6.2%), Culicoides dewulfi (1.7%) and Culicoides clastrieri (0.4%). The first data of Culicoides species distribution in urban areas and the first record of C. litorea are recorded for the Basque Country region. Journal of the European Mosquito Control Association 33: 10-14, 2015