Distribution of culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) species in turkey and ecological approaches

In this study, the distribution of species belonging to the genus Culicoides, which is the vector of many pathogens, in Turkey has been investigated by evaluating the data from individuals collected from 104 locations belonging to 51 provinces between 2016-2019 within the scope of the project "Diagnosing Important Vector-borne Viral Animal Diseases in Turkey, Detecting Vectors and Establishing an Early Warning System", and individuals collected in 2020 from three stations where the data flow continued. The morphological features of the species obtained from the study were documented. In addition, horizontal distribution by mapping the locations where species belonging to the genus Culicoides were observed together with the locations where they were observed in previous studies and; vertical distribution by evaluating the altitude data of the locations were detected. Considering the relationship between the total number of Culicoides and the variables of daily average temperature, daily average relative humidity, daily average wind speed; it was observed that the Culicoides populations increased when the daily average temperature ranged between of 15°C and 30°C, did not show a significant correlation with the daily average relative humidity, and were better adapted to the daily average wind speed between 1 and 3 ms-1. The community structure of Culicoides species was investigated by dividing the Turkish geography into 17 sub-ecoregions. Diversity is at the highest level in the sub-eco-regions of the Aegean Region Lower Aegean Subregion and the Marmara Transitional Region Arid Forest (Maquis, Red Pine, Oak) Section; diversity is at the lowest level in the Black Sea Climate Region Humid Temperate Broadleaf Forest Section and Mediterranean Region Mediterranean Subsection sub-ecoregions.