Living the sweet life: Sugar feeding ecology in Culicoides and practical applications for targeted control

Culicoides biting midges are the vectors of several pathogens of veterinary significance in North America, such as bluetongue virus, epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus, and vesicular stomatitis virus. Despite their impact on animal agriculture industries and wildlife populations, control strategies for these insects are lacking, due in part to difficulty targeting these extremely small insects and a general lack of information on their ecology. Their ubiquitous use of semi-aquatic habitats in the larval stage makes targeted larval control challenging and there is little data available on the efficacy of adulticides or the potential development of insecticide resistance by this group. Sugar feeding is a necessity for both male and female midges in the adult stage to sustain flight and fuel other energetic needs, meaning this behavior could be a vulnerability that can be exploited for control. This talk will focus on ongoing studies investigating the ecology of sugar feeding in this important vector group and ways that we can then use these data to improve targeted control options for Culicoides midges to decrease disease incidence in vertebrates while limiting potential nontarget impacts to other insect groups.