Influence of bacterial strains on oviposition and larval development of two <scp>BTV</scp> vector species of <i>Culicoides</i> (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae): An approach to colony establishment

The biting midges, Culicoides peregrinus Kieffer and Culicoides oxystoma Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are the most significant vector species of bluetongue virus (BTV) in the Oriental region, including India. Rearing of these vector species was cumbersome; previous researchers supplemented the rearing substrates primarily with cattle dung (the habitat), yeast and nutrient broth. Other investigations reiterated that an enriched milieu of live bacteria is required for the oviposition and developmental progression of the immatures as they failed to develop in sterile medium. Therefore, bacteria-based approaches provide novel opportunities for artificial rearing. This investigation tries to simplify and create a cleaner version of rearing based on different bacterial strains. The substrate bacterial strains were biochemically characterised, and their influence on oviposition, hatching and larval development was analysed and evaluated under laboratory conditions. We artificially reared two vector species by utilising three different strains of Bacillus cereus and one strain of Alcaligenes faecalis retrieved from the substrates. The results demonstrated that gravid females select their oviposition substrates based on stimuli derived from live microorganisms that indicate the suitability of the developmental substrate for immature development. Bacillus cereus 1B stimulated the greatest extent of egg hatching (>99%), larval survivability (>74%), pupae formation (>83%) and adult emergence (>98%) in both species. This present investigation proposes to utilise B. cereus 1B as an alternative approach to artificially rear and establish laboratory colonies of these vector species.