Et. Schmidtmann et al., Soil chemistries define aquatic habitats with immature populations of the Culicoides variipennis complex (Diptera : Ceratopogonidae), J MED ENT, 37(1), 2000, pp. 58-64
Aquatic habitats with immature populations of the Culicoides variipennis (C
oquillett) complex were sampled across the United States and tested for soi
l chemistry parameters. Indicators of organic loading, phosphate, percentag
e of organic matter, and nitrate were high for C. variipennis and C. sonore
nsis, reflecting the common occurrence of larvae in sediments contaminated
with livestock waste; these factors were low in western playa lake habitats
with immature C. occidentalis. Levels of salt-forming ions and indicators
of salinity, notably sodium, chloride, magnesium, sulfate, boron, and condu
ctivity, were elevated in substrates supporting all 3 species, with values
that declined from very high to high across the arid west to moderate east
of the Mississippi river, and differed significantly among species. Concent
rations of boron differed most strongly among habitats of the respective sp
ecies, ranging from exceptionally high values in playa lake substrates with
C. occidentalis, to high and moderate levels in western and southeastern s
ites with C. sonorensis, to moderate levels for substrates in the east with
C. variipennis. The presence of C. sonorensis in dairy wastewater lagoons
and saline springs in geographic regions that are otherwise inhabited by C.
variipennis may reflect salinity factors that regulate the distribution of
the C. variipennis complex.