Culicoides (Diptera:Ceratopogonidae) collected during epizootics of hemorrhagic disease among captive white-tailed deer.

ABSTRACT

To help determine specific vectors of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) and bluetongue (BT) viruses for white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann, in the southeastern United States, Culicoides sp. midges were collected during epizootics of hemorrhagic disease among captive white-tailed deer in Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Culicoides variipennis (Coquillett), a confirmed vector of EHD and BT viruses, was present in low numbers in light-trap collections made at all sites. Collections from deer made in Georgia and North Carolina yielded only a single specimen of C. variipennis. Other Culicoides species present in far greater numbers during the epizootics included C. lahillei Lutz, C. paraensis (Goeldi), and C. stellifer (Coquillett) C. lahillei warrants particular attention as a potential vector because its readily feeds on white-tailed deer and was by far the predominant species collected from deer during the epizootics.