Dataset Information

Development and validation of IIKC: an interactive identification key for Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) females from the Western Palaearctic region.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND AND METHODS: The appearance of bluetongue virus (BTV) in 2006 within northern Europe exposed a lack of expertise and resources available across this region to enable the accurate morphological identification of species of Culicoides Latreille biting midges, some of which are the major vectors of this pathogen. This work aims to organise extant Culicoides taxonomic knowledge into a database and to produce an interactive identification key for females of Culicoides in the Western Palaearctic (IIKC: Interactive identification key for Culicoides). We then validated IIKC using a trial carried out by six entomologists based in this region with variable degrees of experience in identifying Culicoides. RESULTS: The current version of the key includes 98 Culicoides species with 10 morphological variants, 61 descriptors and 837 pictures and schemes. Validation was carried out by six entomologists as a blind trial with two users allocated to three classes of expertise (beginner, intermediate and advanced). Slides were identified using a median of seven steps and seven minutes and user confidence in the identification varied from 60% for failed identifications to a maximum of 80% for successful ones. By user class, the beginner group successfully identified 44.6% of slides, the intermediate 56.8% and the advanced 74.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Structured as a multi-entry key, IIKC is a powerful database for the morphological identification of female Culicoides from the Western Palaearctic region. First developed for use as an interactive identification key, it was revealed to be a powerful back-up tool for training new taxonomists and to maintain expertise level. The development of tools for arthropod involvement in pathogen transmission will allow clearer insights into the ecology and dynamics of Culicoides and in turn assist in understanding arbovirus epidemiology.

SUBMITTER: Mathieu B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3483010 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Development and validation of IIKC: an interactive identification key for Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) females from the Western Palaearctic region.

Mathieu Bruno B Cêtre-Sossah Catherine C Garros Claire C Chavernac David D Balenghien Thomas T Carpenter Simon S Setier-Rio Marie-Laure ML Vignes-Lebbe Régine R Ung Visotheary V Candolfi Ermanno E Delécolle Jean-Claude JC

Parasites & vectors 20120709

<h4>Background and methods</h4>The appearance of bluetongue virus (BTV) in 2006 within northern Europe exposed a lack of expertise and resources available across this region to enable the accurate morphological identification of species of Culicoides Latreille biting midges, some of which are the major vectors of this pathogen. This work aims to organise extant Culicoides taxonomic knowledge into a database and to produce an interactive identification key for females of Culicoides in the Western ...[more]

PMID: 22776566

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundBiting midges, Culicoides, of the Obsoletus group and the Pulicaris group have been involved in recent outbreaks of bluetongue virus and the former was also involved in the Schmallenberg virus outbreak in northern Europe.MethodsFor the first time, here we investigate the local abundance pattern of these two species groups in the field by intensive sampling with a grid of light traps on 16 catch nights. Neighboring trap catches can be spatially dependent on each other, hence we developed a conditional autoregressive (CAR) model framework to test a number of spatial and non-spatial covariates expected to affect Culicoides abundance.ResultsThe distance to sheep penned in the corner of the study field significantly increased the abundance level up to 200 meters away from the sheep. Spatial clustering was found to be significant but could not be explained by any known factors, and cluster locations shifted between catch nights. No significant temporal autocorrelation was detected. CAR models for both species groups identified a significant positive impact of humidity and significant negative impacts of precipitation and wind turbulence. Temperature was also found to be significant with a peak at just below 16 degrees Celcius. Surprisingly, there was a significant positive impact of wind speed. The CAR model for the Pulicaris group also identified a significant attraction to the smaller groups of sheep placed in the field. Furthermore, a large number of spatial covariates which were incorrectly found to be significant in ordinary regression models were not significant in the CAR models. The 95% C.I. on the prediction estimates ranged from 20.4% to 304.8%, underlining the difficulties of predicting the abundance of Culicoides.ConclusionsWe found that significant spatial clusters of Culicoides moved around in a dynamic pattern varying between catch nights. This conforms with the modeling but was not explained by any of the tested covariates. The mean abundance within these clusters was up to 11 times higher for the Obsoletus group and 4 times higher for the Pulicaris group compared to the rest of the field.

Dataset Information

Development and validation of IIKC: an interactive identification key for Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) females from the Western Palaearctic region.

Publications

Development and validation of IIKC: an interactive identification key for Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) females from the Western Palaearctic region.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets