Ecological characteristics of pre-imaginal stages of blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in southern England

Abstract

Data on pre-imaginal stages of blackflies obtained in southern England during the summer and early autumn of 2020 were supplemented by additional surveys and analysed in relation to environmental factors. Fourteen taxa from 29 locations were recorded. Of these, seven are of medical and/or veterinary importance: Simulium (Wilhelmia) equinum (Linnaeus, 1758), S. (Boophthora) erythrocephalum (De Geer, 1776), S. (Simulium) intermedium Roubaud, 1906 sensu lato (s.l., a complex of species), S. (W.) lineatum (Meigen, 1804), S. (S.) morsitans Edwards, 1915, S. (S.) noelleri Friederichs, 1920 and S. (S.) ornatum (Meigen, 1818) s.l. Analyses of a variety of environmental factors recorded at the insects’ breeding sites showed that, by considering larvae and pupae together, the differences in the assemblages of blackfly species were explained by four variables: river depth, temperature, conductivity and elevation.

Keywords:

• Simuliidae
• environmental variables
• multivariate analysis
• medical and veterinary importance
• England

Acknowledgements

The authors want to express their gratitude to Álvaro Lis-Cantín for his valuable help in providing the map and we are grateful to the referees for their helpful comments.

Author contributions

All authors of the present paper declare that have made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the manuscript, revising it critically for important intellectual content, and final approval of the version to be submitted.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

Most of the data that support the findings of this study are given in the Tables and Supporting Information but other details are available from the authors, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

We thank the Generalitat Valenciana, Conselleria d’Innovació, Universitats, Ciència i Societat Digital, Direcció General de Ciència i Investigació, Servei de Gestió del Programa I + D + I, which supported this study by awarding a subvention (grant reference record number BEST/2020/212) from the ‘Subvencions per estades de personal investigador doctor en centres d’investigació radicats fora de la Comunitat Valenciana’ of Programa para la promoción de la investigación científica, el desarrollo tecnológico y la innovación en la Comunitat Valenciana (DOGV núm. 8607/06.08.2019).