The Origin of Blood Meals of Female Culicoides Pallidipennis Trapped in a Sheepfold in Israel1

Abstract

Precipitin tests were carried out on blood meals of 269 female Culicoides pallidipennis (Carter, Ingram & Macfie) trapped over a period of 12 months in the sheep pens of the Veterinary Institute at Bet Dagan, Israel. The results were as follows: 44.2% of the meals were not identified, 23% were from cattle, 17.8% from sheep or goat, 14.1% from the family Bovidae which could not be identified further and 0.7% from other mammalian hosts. The monthly average “forage ratio” for cattle during the trapping period was 1.3, whereas for sheep it was 0.2. The implications of these findings in relation to the epidemiology of bluetongue are discussed.