A study was conducted to observe the prevalence of Culicoides a biting midge, important pest and prime vector for various viruses, protozoa and filarid worms. In the vicinity of 11 different farms of cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats in Bangalore rural and urban districts the flies were collected by using UV traps (Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute. ARC. LNR) connected with suction fan for the period of 1 year (2012-2013). Around 83,629 Culicoides were collected of which 77,906 (93.16 %) were female and 5,723 (6.84 %) were males and 40,120 (47.97 %) of C. imicola, 39,366 (47.07 %) C. oxystoma, 2,504 (2.99 %) C. actoni, 1,145 (1.37 %) C. peregrinus, 145 (0.17 %) C. huffi, 120 (0.16 %) C. innoxius, 90 (0.11 %) C. palpifer, 67 (0.08 %) C. anopheles, 37 (0.04 %) C. circumscriptus and 25 (0.03 %) were C. arakawae. It was observed that C. imicola and C. oxystoma were the most predominant species prevalent in Bangalore rural and urban districts of Karnataka.
Keywords: Biting midge; Culicoides; Karnataka; Prevalence.