Occurrence, Activity and Control Options Against Biting Midges (Diptera: Culicoides) in Horses

Biting midges are insects which annoy horses as they cause discomfort and by the sucking of blood, they cause painful lesions that, in certain cases, can trigger acute allergic reactions. They also act as potential vectors of many pathogens of bacterial, viral and parasitic origin. The aim of this study was to investigate seasonal dynamics, abundance and species composition of biting midges, and implementing protection options at the Equestrian centre of the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy (UVMP) in Košice in the years 2021 and 2022. During this time period (of 2021 and 2022), we captured 4797 biting midges. Our results showed that in 2021 the most frequently captured species were C. obsoletus/C. scoticus (prevalence 86.6 %), followed by C. punctatus and C. pulicaris (prevalence 5.37 % and 3.86 %, resp.). In addition, C. lupicaris, C. newsteadi, C. furcillatus, C. festivipennis, C. slovacus, C. tauricus, C. clastrieri, C. dewulfi, C. fagineus and C. circumscriptus were identified as the minority species. In this year, the highest abundance of these insects (1758 biting midges) was observed at the end of June. In 2022, we detected a clear dominance of C. obsoletus/C. scoticus (prevalence 97.0 %) and the highest number of biting midges (655) was captured in mid-May). In this year, the minority species included, C. pulicaris, C. punctatus and C. lupicaris. The identification of the host blood showed that man (Homo sapiens) was the dominant host, namely of 80 % of the examined biting midges of species C. obsoletus/C. scoticus, C. dewulfi, C. punctatus and C. festivipennis. In one female of species C. fagineus we identified the host blood from horses (Equus caballusi). In 2022, we detected the blood of a domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in the species of C. obsoletus/C. scoticus.