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Research Article

volume 54 issue 9 (september 2020) : 1125-1135,   Doi: 10.18805/ijar.B-3629

Effect of Environment and Elevation on Seasonal Prevalence of Culicoides in West Bengal

E
Emon Mukhopadhyay
S
Surajit Hazra
D
Dhriti Banerjee
1Diptera Section, Zoological Survey of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change, M- Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053, West Begal, India.
Cite article:- Mukhopadhyay Emon, Hazra Surajit, Banerjee Dhriti (2020). Effect of Environment and Elevation on Seasonal Prevalence of Culicoides in West Bengal. Indian Journal of Animal Research. 54(9): 1125-1135. doi: 10.18805/ijar.B-3629.

ABSTRACT

Background: Culicoides, popularly known as ‘biting midges’ is a group of vector insects causing transmission of pathogens to livestock and other closely related mammals leading to animal health deterioration. They are among the smallest and most abundant hematophagous vectors of Blue tongue virus (BTV), Epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV), African horse sickness virus (AHSV), Equine encephalitis virus (EEV), protozoans, filarial nematodes throughout the world. They are known to spread livestock diseases in India in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. 30 Culicoides vectors are reported worldwide, 13 of them from India, of which 11 are found in West Bengal. In the Indian subcontinent, biting midges live throughout the year, with two distinct peaks - one in the monsoon (August-September) and another peak during post-monsoon or beginning of winter (November) and there is a steady decrease during the summer months (May). Adults thrive best at low-temperature range (19-32oC) and rainfall plays an important role in Culicoides breeding and life-cycle. But a detailed account on the ecology, breeding sites, biology and bionomics of immature and adults have been poorly understood with very scanty literature. The present research is aimed to provide an exhaustive detail on the ecological behavior of Culicoides and their prevalence pattern based on the effect of meteorological parameter and elevation across different regions of West Bengal.
Methods: Insect samples were collected using sweep nets in the early morning, afternoon and just before sunset for a period of four years from January 2014 to December 2017 in six agro-climatic regions of West Bengal.  After collection, they were transferred in 70% ethanol, kept in a cool place, sorted and different parts of the specimen were mounted on glass slides in the phenol-balsam mixture and identified through Leica DFC 295 binocular light microscope. Ecological graph analysis were generated using software PAST 3.0 and MS-EXCEL 2016. Maps on sampling sites was generated using software ARC GIS 10.5).
Result: Five Culicoides species-Culicoides oxystoma, C. actoni, C. peregrinus,C. orientalis and C. anophelis were collected. The results show highest prevalence in post-monsoon months at the coastal-saline region, at an of  elevation 5-15m with ideal temperature of 14-35oC  and rainfall of  1100-2000mm in West Bengal, with the highest dominance of Culicoides oxystoma throughout the year.

REFERENCES

  1. Archana M, D`Souza PE, Prasad CR, Byregowda SM. (2014). Seasonal prevalence of different species of Culicoides in Bangalore rural and urban districts of South India. Veterinary World. 7(7): 517-521.
  2. Bishop AL, Bellis GA, McKenzie HJ, Spohr LJ, Worrall RJ, Harris AM, Melville L. (2006). Light trapping of biting midges Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) with green light emitting diodes. Australian Journal of Entomology. 45(3): 202-205.
  3. Borkent A, Craig DA. (2004). Austroconops Wirth and Lee, a Lower Cretaceous genus of biting midges yet living in Western Australia: a new species, first description of the immatures and discussion of their biology and phylogeny (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). - American Museum Novitates. 3449: 1-67.
  4. Chand K, Biswas SK, Pandey AB, Muthuchelvan D, Mondal B. (2015). Bluetongue in India: A review. Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences. 3(11): 605-612.
  5. Gangopadhyay D, Das Gupta SK. (2000). Glimpses of the biodiversity of Culicoides insects (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in India, pp. 123-132 In Proceedings of the National Seminar on Environmental Biology. April 3-5, 1998, Aditya, A.K. and P. Haldar. (eds.)
  6. Halder A, Joardar SN, Isore DP, Samanta I, Parui P, Banerjee D, Lodh C. (2016). Seroepidemiology of bluetongue in South Bengal. Veterinary World. 9(1): 1-5.
  7. Harsha R. (2016). Bionomics of Culicoides spp Diptera Certopogonidae affecting the livestock of West Bengal India.
  8. Hope A, Gubbins S, Sanders C, Denison E, Barber J, Stubbins F, Baylis M, Carpenter S, (2015). A comparison of commercial light-emitting diode baited suction traps for surveillance of Culicoides in northern Europe. Parasites and vectors. 8(1): p.239.
  9. Joardar SN, Halder A, Parui P, Kumar V, Banerjee D, Lodh C. (2016). Isolation of Bluetongue Virus from Midges of Culicoides Schultzei Complex in West Bengal, India. Journal of Dairy, Veterinary and Animal Research. 4(3): 00123. 
  10. Joardar, SN, Lodh C, Chakrabarti A, Baksi S, Aich, R. (2009). Isolation of bluetongue virus serotypes 15 and 21 in West Bengal, India.
  11. Kulkarni DD, Bannalikar AS, Karpe AG, Glijar MB, Kulkarni MN. (1992). Epidemiological observations on bluetongue in sheep in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state in India, In Walton, T.E. and B.I. Osburn (eds.) Proceedings of 2nd International Symposium on Bluetongue, African Horse Sickness Related Arboviruses. CRC, Press, Boca Raton Florida p 193-196. 
  12. Mehrotra ML, Singh R, Shukla DC. (1991). Seroepidemiology and isolation of virus from an outbreak of bluetongue in Tamil Nadu. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences. 61(12): 1282-1283.
  13. Meiswinkel R, Gomulski LM, Delécolle JC, Goffredo M, Gasperi G. (2004). The taxonomy of Culicoides vector complexes - unfinished business. Veterinaria Italiana. 40 (3): 151-159.
  14. Mukhopadhyay E, Mazumdar A, Joardar SN, Saha GK, Banerjee D. (2016). An annotated checklist of Culicoides Latreille, 1809 (Insecta: Ceratopogonidae: Diptera) with incorporation of a vector species list from India. Journal of Vector Ecology. 41 (2): 279-284.
  15. Mullen GR. (2009). 12 - Biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), In Mullen, G.R., Durden, L.A. (eds.), Medical and Veterinary Entomology pp. 169-188.
  16. Narladkar BW, Shastri UV, Shivpuje, PR. (1993). Studies on bionomics of Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) with a note on life cycle. Indian Veterinary Journal. 70: 313-316.
  17. Narladkar BW, Shivpuje PR. (2014). Prevalence, population dynamics and host preferences of Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) of livestock in Marathwada region of Maharashtra State, Veterinary World. 7(9): 717-726.
  18. Prasad G, Sreenivasulu D, Sigh KP, Metens PPC, Maan S. (2009). Bluetongue in the Indian subcontinent. In: Mertens PPC, Baylis M, Mellor PS (Eds), Bluetongue. pp.167-195. Elsevier Academic Press, London, UK. 
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    Research Article

    volume 54 issue 9 (september 2020) : 1125-1135,   Doi: 10.18805/ijar.B-3629

    Effect of Environment and Elevation on Seasonal Prevalence of Culicoides in West Bengal

    E
    Emon Mukhopadhyay
    S
    Surajit Hazra
    D
    Dhriti Banerjee
    1Diptera Section, Zoological Survey of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change, M- Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053, West Begal, India.
    Cite article:- Mukhopadhyay Emon, Hazra Surajit, Banerjee Dhriti (2020). Effect of Environment and Elevation on Seasonal Prevalence of Culicoides in West Bengal. Indian Journal of Animal Research. 54(9): 1125-1135. doi: 10.18805/ijar.B-3629.

    ABSTRACT

    Background: Culicoides, popularly known as ‘biting midges’ is a group of vector insects causing transmission of pathogens to livestock and other closely related mammals leading to animal health deterioration. They are among the smallest and most abundant hematophagous vectors of Blue tongue virus (BTV), Epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV), African horse sickness virus (AHSV), Equine encephalitis virus (EEV), protozoans, filarial nematodes throughout the world. They are known to spread livestock diseases in India in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. 30 Culicoides vectors are reported worldwide, 13 of them from India, of which 11 are found in West Bengal. In the Indian subcontinent, biting midges live throughout the year, with two distinct peaks - one in the monsoon (August-September) and another peak during post-monsoon or beginning of winter (November) and there is a steady decrease during the summer months (May). Adults thrive best at low-temperature range (19-32oC) and rainfall plays an important role in Culicoides breeding and life-cycle. But a detailed account on the ecology, breeding sites, biology and bionomics of immature and adults have been poorly understood with very scanty literature. The present research is aimed to provide an exhaustive detail on the ecological behavior of Culicoides and their prevalence pattern based on the effect of meteorological parameter and elevation across different regions of West Bengal.
    Methods: Insect samples were collected using sweep nets in the early morning, afternoon and just before sunset for a period of four years from January 2014 to December 2017 in six agro-climatic regions of West Bengal.  After collection, they were transferred in 70% ethanol, kept in a cool place, sorted and different parts of the specimen were mounted on glass slides in the phenol-balsam mixture and identified through Leica DFC 295 binocular light microscope. Ecological graph analysis were generated using software PAST 3.0 and MS-EXCEL 2016. Maps on sampling sites was generated using software ARC GIS 10.5).
    Result: Five Culicoides species-Culicoides oxystoma, C. actoni, C. peregrinus,C. orientalis and C. anophelis were collected. The results show highest prevalence in post-monsoon months at the coastal-saline region, at an of  elevation 5-15m with ideal temperature of 14-35oC  and rainfall of  1100-2000mm in West Bengal, with the highest dominance of Culicoides oxystoma throughout the year.

    REFERENCES

    1. Archana M, D`Souza PE, Prasad CR, Byregowda SM. (2014). Seasonal prevalence of different species of Culicoides in Bangalore rural and urban districts of South India. Veterinary World. 7(7): 517-521.
    2. Bishop AL, Bellis GA, McKenzie HJ, Spohr LJ, Worrall RJ, Harris AM, Melville L. (2006). Light trapping of biting midges Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) with green light emitting diodes. Australian Journal of Entomology. 45(3): 202-205.
    3. Borkent A, Craig DA. (2004). Austroconops Wirth and Lee, a Lower Cretaceous genus of biting midges yet living in Western Australia: a new species, first description of the immatures and discussion of their biology and phylogeny (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). - American Museum Novitates. 3449: 1-67.
    4. Chand K, Biswas SK, Pandey AB, Muthuchelvan D, Mondal B. (2015). Bluetongue in India: A review. Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences. 3(11): 605-612.
    5. Gangopadhyay D, Das Gupta SK. (2000). Glimpses of the biodiversity of Culicoides insects (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in India, pp. 123-132 In Proceedings of the National Seminar on Environmental Biology. April 3-5, 1998, Aditya, A.K. and P. Haldar. (eds.)
    6. Halder A, Joardar SN, Isore DP, Samanta I, Parui P, Banerjee D, Lodh C. (2016). Seroepidemiology of bluetongue in South Bengal. Veterinary World. 9(1): 1-5.
    7. Harsha R. (2016). Bionomics of Culicoides spp Diptera Certopogonidae affecting the livestock of West Bengal India.
    8. Hope A, Gubbins S, Sanders C, Denison E, Barber J, Stubbins F, Baylis M, Carpenter S, (2015). A comparison of commercial light-emitting diode baited suction traps for surveillance of Culicoides in northern Europe. Parasites and vectors. 8(1): p.239.
    9. Joardar SN, Halder A, Parui P, Kumar V, Banerjee D, Lodh C. (2016). Isolation of Bluetongue Virus from Midges of Culicoides Schultzei Complex in West Bengal, India. Journal of Dairy, Veterinary and Animal Research. 4(3): 00123. 
    10. Joardar, SN, Lodh C, Chakrabarti A, Baksi S, Aich, R. (2009). Isolation of bluetongue virus serotypes 15 and 21 in West Bengal, India.
    11. Kulkarni DD, Bannalikar AS, Karpe AG, Glijar MB, Kulkarni MN. (1992). Epidemiological observations on bluetongue in sheep in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state in India, In Walton, T.E. and B.I. Osburn (eds.) Proceedings of 2nd International Symposium on Bluetongue, African Horse Sickness Related Arboviruses. CRC, Press, Boca Raton Florida p 193-196. 
    12. Mehrotra ML, Singh R, Shukla DC. (1991). Seroepidemiology and isolation of virus from an outbreak of bluetongue in Tamil Nadu. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences. 61(12): 1282-1283.
    13. Meiswinkel R, Gomulski LM, Delécolle JC, Goffredo M, Gasperi G. (2004). The taxonomy of Culicoides vector complexes - unfinished business. Veterinaria Italiana. 40 (3): 151-159.
    14. Mukhopadhyay E, Mazumdar A, Joardar SN, Saha GK, Banerjee D. (2016). An annotated checklist of Culicoides Latreille, 1809 (Insecta: Ceratopogonidae: Diptera) with incorporation of a vector species list from India. Journal of Vector Ecology. 41 (2): 279-284.
    15. Mullen GR. (2009). 12 - Biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), In Mullen, G.R., Durden, L.A. (eds.), Medical and Veterinary Entomology pp. 169-188.
    16. Narladkar BW, Shastri UV, Shivpuje, PR. (1993). Studies on bionomics of Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) with a note on life cycle. Indian Veterinary Journal. 70: 313-316.
    17. Narladkar BW, Shivpuje PR. (2014). Prevalence, population dynamics and host preferences of Culicoides spp. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) of livestock in Marathwada region of Maharashtra State, Veterinary World. 7(9): 717-726.
    18. Prasad G, Sreenivasulu D, Sigh KP, Metens PPC, Maan S. (2009). Bluetongue in the Indian subcontinent. In: Mertens PPC, Baylis M, Mellor PS (Eds), Bluetongue. pp.167-195. Elsevier Academic Press, London, UK. 
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