Development of Immature Culicoides variipennis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) at Constant Laboratory Temperatures

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Abstract
Immature stages of Culicoides variipennis (Coquillett) were reared in natural substrate at constant temperatures of 17, 20, 23, 27, and 30°C to estimate developmental threshold temperatures (t) and thermal constants (K). Estimates of t and K values, respectively, were 9.8°C and 36.7 degree-days (egg), 10.7°C and 212.5 degree-days (larva), 10.6°C and 33.1 degree-days (pupa), and 10.5°C and 284.5 degree-days (total immature development). Survival of immatures generally was 61 to 75% and was not greatly affected by temperature. Adult flies produced were larger at lower rearing temperatures. Males were smaller than females. At a given temperature, flies that emerged earlier tended to be larger than those that emerged later. No significant differences in development time between the sexes were observed.