Prevalence and Age Grading of Two Common Culicoides species, in Farms of Warangal Districts of Telangana State, South India

The prevalence and age grading of Culicoides midges from two districts of Warangal in Telangana State, South India was studied considering the species as pests and vectors. The study revealed the species composition, the abundance, host preference and age grading of Culicoides. The morphological characters were used for specific identification of biting midges. The midges were collected from two different farms from Warangal rural and urban districts (cattle and sheep) using CDC-UV light trap connected with suction fan for the period of one year (September 2017 to August 2018). A total of 28,000 flies were collected in which 25,000 (83.33%) were female and 3,000 (16.66%) were males. The species included 10,500 (58.33%) C. oxystoma, 7,500 (41.66 %) C. imicola from cattle farms 10,000 flies from sheep farms including C. imicola 6,500 (65%) and C. oxystoma 3,500 (35%). The age grading of Culicoides revealed significant proportion of parous females which play an important role in transmission of Blue Tongue disease virus.