Monitoring of Culicoides at 20 locations in northwest Germany

Entomological monitoring was carried out from April 2007 to May 2008 at 20 locations in the areas of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and Bremen. A total number of 26 Culicoides species were sampled by light traps during the first week of every month. Culicoides diversity was highest in summer, achieving more than 20 species and genera per month. Numbers of Culicoides were highest in spring and summer with a maximum of 325,000 individuals in May 2008 at a single location. During the winter, the number of individuals decreased considerably, but few individuals of Culicoides were present even during the coldest months in January and February with Culicoides obsoletus remaining the only species complex. The total number of Ceratopogonidae and the number of individuals from C. obsoletus complex and Culicoides pulicaris complex were significantly correlated with temperature almost at any date and location.