Effects of altitude, distance and waves of movement on the dispersal in Australia of the arbovirus vector, Culicoides brevitarsis Kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Abstract

The dispersal of the biting midge and arbovirus vector Culicoides brevitarsis in the Bellinger, Macleay and Hastings river valleys and up the escarpment of the great dividing range (GDR) of mid-northern coastal New South Wales, Australia, from 1995 to 2003 was studied. The midge moved up these valleys from the endemic coastal plain in at least two waves between October and May, and both waves were modelled. Dispersal time can be explained by direct distance from the coast and the altitude of the sites. Dispersal times due to distance were similar at 18.2 +/- 2.2 (S.D.) and 15.9 +/- 2.6 weeks per 100 km for first- and second-occurrences at fixed altitude. Time of the first wave was extended 0.48 +/- 0.22 weeks for every 100-m rise in altitude and the second by 1.14 +/- 0.24 weeks for every 100-m rise for a set distance. Although C. brevitarsis can move up the escarpment of the GDR (and possibly transmit virus), vector dispersal, survival and establishment at and beyond the top of the range are limited. A third model showed that previously described slower movement of C. brevitarsis up the more-southerly Hunter valley relative to movements down the coastal plain also was related to increasing altitude.