Ireland lost its official freedom from Schmallenberg virus (SBV) in October 2012. The route of introduction is uncertain, with long-distance displacement of infected Culicoides, biting midges, by suitable wind flows considered to be the most likely source. The authors investigated the potential introduction of SBV into Ireland through a Culicoides incursion event in the summer of 2012. They con...

Two new species of Culicoides Latreille of the Neotropical subgenus Mataemyia Vargas are described and illustrated based on female specimens from Juruti, Pará, Brazil and compared with their similar congeners. This paper also presents a diagnosis of the subgenus Mataemyia and a systematic key for the identification of the 19 species of the subgenus.

Two new species of the Culicoides paraensis species group, C. diversus Felippe-Bauer and C. peruvianus Felippe-Bauer, are described and illustrated based on female specimens from Amazonian region of Peru. A systematic key, table with numerical characters of females, and distribution of species of the C. paraensis group are given.

Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are hematophagous insects with over 1400 species distributed throughout the world. Many of these species are of particular agricultural importance as primary vectors of bluetongue and Schmallenberg viruses, yet little is known about Culicoides genomics and proteomics. Detailed studies of members from other blood-feeding Dipteran families, incl...

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In August 2006, bluetongue virus (BTV) was detected in the Netherlands, Belgium, western Germany, Luxembourg and northern France for the first time. Consequently, a longitudinal entomological study was conducted in the affected region of northern France (Ardennes) throughout the autumn of 2006. Data on the spatio-temporal distribution of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) associated with liv...

Culicoides (Avaritia) imicola, Kieffer is redescribed and its current worldwide distribution reviewed. It is compared with the closely allied C. (A.) bolitinos sp. nov. Descriptions of both sexes of C. imicola and C. bolitinos sp. nov. are based entirely on series of reared adults. T-tests were performed on antennal and palpal data to differentiate more clearly these 2 species. The results are ...

Culicoides (Avaritia) miombo sp. nov. is described and illustrated from both sexes collected in northern Malawi. Two references in the literature have previously referred to this new species as either C. brosseti Vattier & Adam or C. imicola Kieffer. A further 4 references are discussed that most likely deal with C. miombo sp. nov. and not C. brosseti. C. miombo sp. nov. is apparently widesprea...

The role of the northward expansion of Culicoides imicola Kieffer in recent and unprecedented outbreaks of Culicoides-borne arboviruses in southern Europe has been a significant point of contention. We combined entomological surveys, movement simulations of air-borne particles, and population genetics to reconstruct the chain of events that led to a newly colonized French area nestled at the no...