Oral infection of Culicoides (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) with viral agents, using fine glass needles.

Oral infection of haematophagous insects with arboviruses to test their vector competence can be a difficult procedure in the laboratory since "wild caught" insects often prove reluctant to feed, once captured. This paper describes a technique using virus-charged glass needles to infect Culicoides spp. orally with bluetongue virus (BTV). C. variipennis, a known vector of BTV, was found to support virus multiplication with this technique, giving results comparable to those obtained using standard oral infection procedures. Other species of Culicoides that had previously been difficult or impossible to infect orally in the laboratory also engorged upon virus suspensions. The technique provides a means of assessing the vector competence of these and other similar Culicoides species.