Biodiversity and seasonal distribution of Cullicoides spp. examined in NIVS Belgrade during 2019

Abstract

Continuous entomological monitoring of Cullicoides spp., which is being conducted starting from 2014 have so far yielded significant results related to biodiversity and seasonal dynamics of these insects Serbia. The research we have done so far has contributed to mapping the geographical distribution of the species we encounter as well as the variations in the number of populations in different years. As monitoring continues, we receive new valuable data every year that will help predict the movement of these insects on the basis of biclimatograms and enable preventative action to be taken to counteract them. Unfortunately, starting in 2019, monitoring has been split into three institutions (NIVS Belgrade, NIV Novi Sad and VSI Kraljevo) so that this has lost insight into the biodiversity, sex ratio, and most importantly the age of the females that are the primary vectors. In our work, therefore, we can provide only the results of testing the biodiversity and seasonal dynamics of Cullicoides spp. during 2019 in the epizootiological area of NIVS Belgrade, VSI Šabac, VSI Pančevo, VSI Požarevac, and VSI Zaječar, while we did not divide samples from VSI Jagodina for the fourth consecutive year. Culicoides spp. from Obsoletus complexes were established at 59.91%, from the Pulicaris complex were established at 34.06% and other types of culicoids have been established in less than 10% of the examined samples.