Logo image
An updated checklist of Culicoides Latreille, 1809 biting midges from the highlands of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

An updated checklist of Culicoides Latreille, 1809 biting midges from the highlands of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Alisa Kubala, Kristin Warren, Rudolf Meiswinkel, Michael Cranfield, Ian Robertson, Lian Yeap, Rebecca J Vaughan-Higgins, Radar Nishuli, Eddy Kambale Syaluha, Jean-Paul Kabemba Lukusa, …
Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Early View
2026
pdf
Culicoides Latreille4.24 MBDownloadView
CC BY-NC-ND V4.0 Open Access

Abstract

Africa biting midges country list Democratic Republic of Congo uplands
The highlands of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are home to critically endangered eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei). Concerns have been raised that the increased temperatures and extreme weather conditions associated with climate change will lead to an increase in the abundance and distribution of Culicoides-borne diseases. Here, we utilized an integrated morphological and molecular approach to identify Culicoides species in a small but significant collection of Culicoides captured from highland eastern gorilla habitat and surrounding areas and updated the Culicoides spp. reported from the highlands of the eastern DRC. A review of the literature related to Culicoides collections in the DRC was conducted in French and English. Recent worldwide checklists were consulted to rectify synonyms and other discrepancies found in the literature for the region. Fresh Culicoides specimens were collected, wings slide-mounted and remaining carcasses subjected to DNA extraction. A total of 82 Culicoides specimens were collected. From these, 75 high-quality DNA barcodes (658-bp of the mtDNA COI gene) were obtained, belonging to 14 distinct taxa, 11 of which were new records for the DRC, including C. bolitinos Meiswinkel, 1989, C. hortenis Khamala & Kettle, 1971, C. citroneus Carter, Ingram & Macfie, 1920, and C. radiomaculatus Khamala & Kettle, 1971, and seven species new to science (C. sp. nr. citroneus, C. sp. nr. glabripennis 1, C. sp. nr. glabripennis 2, C. sp. nr. kibatiensis 1, C. sp. nr. kibatiensis 2, C. sp. nr. neavei 1 and C. sp. nr. neavei 2), increasing the known Culicoides fauna of the DRC from 20 to 31. The presence of C. imicola Kieffer, 1913, C. enderleini Cornet & Brunhes, 1994 and C. neavei Austin, 1912, was confirmed. The potential health impact of the association of known Culicoides pathogen vectors with endangered gorillas is discussed.

Details

Metrics

2 File views/ downloads
2 Record Views
Logo image