Biting midge maps
The biting midge maps are published regularly to provide the EFSA and ECDC stakeholders, the scientific community and the general public with updated information on Culicoides distribution at ‘regional’ administrative unit level (NUTS3 or equivalent and NUTS2 in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, England (UK), Scotland (UK) and Wales (UK)). Please note that the maps do not represent the official view or position of the countries.
Surveillance for biting midges
The surveillance maps shows the regions where surveillance activities for biting midges were held in Europe and neighbouring regions.
Biting midge surveillance effort over 2015–2019
Seasonal active surveillance for biting midges over 2017–2019
Distribution maps of biting midges
The map shows the current known distribution of several biting midge species in Europe at ‘regional’ administrative level (NUTS3). It is based on published historical data and confirmed data provided by experts from the respective countries as part of the VectorNet project.
Separate maps for the distribution of each of the following mosquito species are currently available: Culicoides chiopterus, Culicoides dewulfi, Culicoides imicola, Culicoides kingi, Culicoides newsteadi s.l., Culicoides obsoletus/scoticus, Culicoides pulicaris/lupicaris and Culicoides punctatus s.l.
For native species the possible distribution statuses are:
- Present: The species has been observed to be present in at least one municipality within the administrative unit.
- Introduced: The species has been introduced in the administrative unit without confirmed establishment.
- Anticipated Absent: the species has never been reported and there is a high probability that it is absent.
- Confirmed Absent: the species has never been reported within the administrative unit and there have been field surveys or studies on biting midges within the last 5 years of the distribution status date.
- No Data: No sampling has been performed and no data on the species is available.
- Unknown: The status is unknown
Areas outside the scope of the VectorNet geographical scope are colour-coded as ‘Outside scope’.
Vector distribution status changes in terms of spatial units since the previous update
The overall distribution picture of VectorNet maps changed little since October 2021, though the data have filled significant gaps. Data collected in this reporting period provide new distribution information in Ireland and in North Macedonia in which information was available for only very few NUTS3. In North Macedonia, the northern limit of C. imicola was refined with a supplementary ‘Presence’ polygon. Moreover, surveillance data from France allows to update the status of C. imicola in the NUTS3 ‘Pyrénées-Orientales’, from ‘Introduced’ (see report of the period 5) to ‘Absent’ due to the report of the regular absences of collection in trappings carried out from 2013 to 2020 (81 collections in 15 different sites).
