Biting midges are of interest to public health because they play an important role as vectors of disease‐causing pathogens, as well as being a biting nuisance to humans and domestic animals. Although these insects are common in mangrove areas, they have not yet been studied in this ecosystem in the state of Maranhão (MA), Brazil. The objective of this study was to characterize the Culicoides community structure found in a mangrove swamp and verify if the use of vertebrate feces as bait interferes with their composition, richness, abundance, or seasonality. CDC light traps with vertebrate (chicken, ox, control, donkey, capuchin monkey and pig) feces baits were used to capture biting midges in a mangrove area of the Island of São Luís, MA. A total of 4,087 individuals representing 22 species of Culicoides were captured, the most abundant being C. (Oecacta) furens Poey (23.46%), C. (gr. Fluviatilis) leopoldoi Ortiz (21.58%), C. (Hoffmania) ignacioi Forattini (16.98%), C. (Hoffmania) maruim Lutz (13.85%), C. (Diphaomyia) iriartei Fox (10.57%), C. (Hoffmania) insignis Lutz (7.07%), and C. (gr. Limai) limai Barreto (3.03%). Species richness and abundance were higher when baits of capuchin monkey (15 species; 26.84% of the individuals) and pig (15; 25.3%) feces were used. The least attractive baits were donkey (12 species; 9.3%) and ox (nine species; 11.52%) feces. Biting midges were more abundant in the rainy season (67%), but richness was higher in the dry season (19 species). These results show that vertebrate feces may serve as olfactory cues and increase the attraction of biting midges to traps.

中文翻译：

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脊椎动物粪便对亚马逊红树林中Culicoides（Diptera：Ceratopogonidae）的吸引力的影响。

叮咬mid对于公共卫生非常重要，因为它们在引起疾病的病原体中起着重要的作用，并且对人类和家畜也产生了令人讨厌的滋味。尽管这些昆虫在红树林地区很常见，但尚未在巴西Maranhão（MA）的生态系统中对其进行研究。这项研究的目的是表征在红树林沼泽中发现的库里科尼德斯群落结构，并验证使用脊椎动物粪便作为诱饵是否会干扰其组成，丰富度，丰度或季节性。带有脊椎动物（鸡，牛，对照，驴，卷尾猴和猪）粪便饵料的CDC诱捕器用于捕获马萨诸塞州圣路易斯岛的红树林地区的叮咬mid。共有4,087个人代表22种库蠓被捕获，最丰富感C.（Oecacta）furens Poey（23.46％），C ^。（Fluviatilis）leopoldoi Ortiz（21.58％），C.（Hoffmania）ignacioi Forattini（16.98％），C.（Hoffmania）maruim Lutz（13.85％），C.（Diphaomyia）iriartei Fox（10.57％），C. （Hoffmania）荚鲁兹（7.07％），和ç。（里迈先生）里迈巴雷托（3.03％）。当使用卷尾猴（15种；占个体的26.84％）和猪（15; 25.3％）的粪便时，物种的丰富度和丰度较高。吸引力最小的诱饵是驴（12种； 9.3％）和牛（9种； 11.52％）的粪便。在雨季，叮咬mid更为丰富（67％），而在旱季，其丰富度更高（19种）。这些结果表明，脊椎动物的粪便可作为嗅觉线索，并增加叮咬mid对诱捕器的吸引力。