Partner 17 – Universitar de les Illes Balears (UIB)

UIB, Palma, Spain. The team lead by Dr. Miranda at the University of the Balearic Islands has 9 years of experience on bluetongue. The group has a broad experience on Culicoides bioecology, including spatial and temporal dynamics, breeding sites, temporal parous rate of the Culicoides species, adult’s activity and trap performance; further, taxonomy both molecular and morphological, modeling and development of Culicoides control strategies are also current research activity of the group. Recently, the group has conducted several studies on vector competence in collaboration with Dr. Venter from the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in South Africa. The group also includes Dr. Lucientes from the University of Zaragoza , coordinator of the National Entomological Surveillance of bluetongue vectors in Spain. All data regarding vector surveillance is centralized in the laboratories of the University of Zaragoza and the University of the Balearic Islands. In the last six years, the group has contributed to describe the actual distribution of C. imicola and other Obsoletus complex. Furthermore, we have also found the presence of C. imicola in locations where it was not previously recorded.