Determination of culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş and Kilis provinces located in Southeast Anatolia Region

The study was carried out to determinate of Colucoides species in Gaziantep (Nurdağı), Kahramanmaraş (Pazarcık), and Kilis (city center) between May 2012 and October 2012. Transformer light traps were used for the collection of Culicoides samples. These traps were placed in or nearby sheep pens and cattle shelters at sunset and they were kept and operated until the morning of the next day. In the investigation during the period, a total of 6393 Culicoides samples were collected and of these samples 9 Culicoides species were detected and identified. These species are; C.schultzei (93.3%), C.imicola (5.04%), C.puncticollis (1.14%), C. simulator (0.20%), C. gejgelensis (0.17%), C. pictipennis (0.05%), C. picturatus (0.05%), C. circumcsriptus (0.03%) ve C. riethi (0.02%). Of the confirmed species the highest belongs to C. schultzei with 93.30% and the least belongs to C. riethi with 0.02% ratio. In total 6393 Culicoides samples, 3309 (51.74%) were female and 3084 (48.24%) were male flies. While C.circumscriptus and C. riethi were identified only as female and C. simulator only as male. The seasonal activities of the Culicoides made a beginning in June and ending in October, and were highest in September with 50.46% while the least in June with 0.44%. Culicoides samples were collected mostly from Gaziantep (64.76%), followed by Kilis (20.83%) and Kahramanmaraş (14.36%) respectively. The most Culicoides species were found in Gaziantep with 9 species, followed by Kahramanmaraş with 6 species and Kilis with 4 species. As a result; in this study, particularly vector species of Culicoides such as C.schultzei and C.imicola as the highest ratio were detected.