Coastal wetlands along the eastern shore of North America produce large populations of biting midges in the genus Culicoides. These insects create a severe nuisance from northen Maine to southern Florida along the Atlantic coast and from southern Florida to Texas along the Gulf of Mexico. Large biting midge populations are also found throughout the Caribbean Basin and along coastal Central and South America. Biting midge larvae are semiaquatic, spending most of their time buried in mud, making larval control virtually impossible. Historically, the only larvicides that worked well against biting midges were DDT and Chlordane, mainly because of their long persistence in the larval habitats. Adult biting midge control is equally challenging. Because of their small size, the only adulticide that works well is organophosphate thermal fog formulations. Recently, removal trapping methods have been evaluated against biting midge populations in southern Florida and in the Bahamas. Traps baited with carbon dioxide and octenol are used to capture and kill adult biting midge females. Because biting midges are poor flyers and do not disperse more than two miles from their original breeding site, this trapping technique can quickly reduce local biting populations. During an island study conducted in the Bahamas, the biting midge population was cut in half in a single year. The removal trapping of local biting midge populations appears to be an environmentally safe alternative to the use of conventional adulticides and larvicides for the control of these important pests.
Species 1: Diptera Culicidae (mosquitoes)
Keywords: Medical entomology
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA