A Survey of Biting Flies Attacking Equines in Three States of the Southwestern United States, 1972

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Abstract
A survey of biting flies in the southwestern United States resulted in the recovery of 34 species as they attacked equines. The geographic distribution of each species at 15 sites and the abundance of attacking flies were used to determine that 22 species commonly attack equines. Culicoides variipennis (Coquillett) was the most common species collected; it was recovered at 12 sites and comprised the highest percentage (29.8%) of the total survey catch for all species collected. The next 2 most common species were Psorophora columbiae (Dyar & Knab) and Aedes vexans (Meigen). C. variipennis was primarily a morning crepuscular species in the Southwest. The collection of a few males of C. variipennis along with females that were blood-feeding indicated that some populations possessed the trait that may lead some males to mate with females on the host animal. The recovery of Culicoides hieroglyphicus Malloch was a new record for a species biting equines. The records for Culex coronator Dyar & Knab and Aedes thelcter Dyar appeared to be the first definitive data for these species attacking equines. The data for mosquitoes collected concurrently by light traps and from equines showed that neither method by itself was adequate to show the presence in a geographic area of species that attack equines, particularly when population levels of a mosquito species were low.

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