Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) associated with laying chickens at Sebele, Gaborone, Botswana.

Abstract

A total of 2083 Culicoides spp. were collected in an ultraviolet light trap hung from the rafters of a laying chicken house at a location in Sebele, giving a mean daily catch of 208.3 biting midges. C. imicola was the most abundant and constituted 57.5% of the total catch. C. leucosticus and C. engubandei constituted 20.5% and 14.770, respectively, of the catch. A comprehensive questionnaire conducted at three sites in the village indicated that many chickens in the homesteads in this location had died as a result of fowl pox. A high incidence of Haemoproteus columbae gametocytes was also found in the cytoplasm of erythrocytes of domestic pigeons (Colurnbiae livia domestica).