First Report of 13 Species of <em>Culicoides</em> (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Mainland Portugal and Azores by Morphological and Molecular Characterization

<div><p>The genus <em>Culicoides</em> (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) contains important vectors of animal and human diseases, including bluetongue, African horse sickness and filariosis. A major outbreak of bluetongue occurred in mainland Portugal in 2004, forty eight years after the last recorded case. A national Entomological Surveillance Plan was initiated in mainland Portugal, Azores and the Madeira archipelagos in 2005 in order to better understand the disease and facilitate policy decisions. During the survey, the most prevalent <em>Culicoides</em> species in mainland Portugal was <em>C. imicola</em> (75.3%) and species belonging to the Obsoletus group (6.5%). The latter were the most prevalent in Azores archipelago, accounting for 96.7% of the total species identified. The Obsoletus group was further characterized by multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction to species level showing that only two species of this group were present: <em>C. obsoletus sensu strictu</em> (69.6%) and <em>C. scoticus</em> (30.4%). Nine species of <em>Culicoides</em> were detected for the first time in mainland Portugal: <em>C. alazanicus</em>, <em>C. bahrainensis</em>, <em>C. deltus</em>, <em>C. lupicaris</em>, <em>C. picturatus</em>, <em>C. santonicus</em>, <em>C. semimaculatus</em>, <em>C. simulator</em> and <em>C. subfagineus</em>. In the Azores, <em>C. newsteadi</em> and <em>C. circumscriptus</em> were identified for the first time from some islands, and bluetongue vectors belonging to the Obsoletus group (<em>C. obsoletus</em> and <em>C. scoticus</em>) were found to be widespread.</p>