EFFECT OF LIGHT TRAP HEIGHT ON CATCH OF CULICOIDES (DIPTERA, CERATOPOGONIDAE) IN ISRAEL

Vertical suction light trapping was conducted in 1981 at two dairy farms, Bet Dagan (traps at 1.4 and 26 m above ground) and Bet Alfa (traps at 1.5 and 20 m). Of the nine Culicoides species caught in both localities, only C. circumscriptus Kieffer and C. cataneii Clastrier showed a significant difference in abundance related to trap height; C. imicola Kieffer and C. schultzei sp. gp. also demonstrated a height preference, but catch sizes did not differ statistically. C. circumscriptus and C. cataneii, both avian feeders, and C. imicola, a mammalian feeder, were caught in greater numbers in the higher than in the lower traps. In contrast, more C. schultzei sp. pp. females were caught in lower than higher traps. Species collected more frequently in higher traps may be more prone to carriage for long distances by air currents and therefore are more likely to be important as dispersal vectors.