Fur or feather? Feeding preferences of species of Culicoides biting midges in Europe

• Culicoides are vectors of pathogens causing important diseases.
• Culicoides feeding patterns help understand pathogen amplification and transmission.
• Culicoides feed on a range of vertebrate species, but use to present clear preferences for mammal or avian hosts.
• Related species of Culicoides tend to feed on the same class of vertebrates.

Understanding the feeding preferences of haematophagous insects is critical to depicting the amplification and transmission networks of pathogens and identifying key vector species for surveillance programs. In the case of species from genus Culicoides, many of which are important vectors of pathogens causing animal diseases, information from molecular studies on the feeding habits of females is expanding but still limited for a significant fraction of competent vectors of Culicoides-borne pathogens. In spite of these limitations, recent studies highlight that most Culicoides species are able to feed on several vertebrate species, but present clear preferences for mammals or birds.