Kafkas Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi Early View
First Record of Musca crassirostris Stein, 1903 (Diptera: Muscidae) in Algeria, Confirmed from the Sétif Region, with Notes on Hematophagous Brachycera Diversity
Khouloud DEKKICHE1,2, Amel BENATALLAH1,3, Faiza MARNICHE1,2,4, Abdelmounaim MOUHAJIR5, Loïc FAVENNEC5, Romy RAZAKANDRAINIBE5
1Higher National Veterinary School, Rabie-Bouchama, Issad Abbes, Oued Smar, Algiers, ALGERIA
2Research Laboratory for the Management of Local Animal Resources (GRAL), Higher National Veterinary School, ALGERIA
3Research Laboratory of Food Hygiene and Quality Assurance Systems (HASAQ), Higher National Veterinary School, ALGERIA
4Research Laboratory for Plant Protection in Agricultural and Natural Environments against Crop Pests, National Agronomic School of El Harrach, Algiers, ALGERIA
5Laboratoire de Parasitologie, EA 7510, Université de Rouen Normandie, Rouen, FRANCE DOI : 10.9775/kvfd.2025.35280 From December 2022 to November 2023, blood-feeding Diptera were studied in the Sétif region (Algeria) using Nzi and Vavoua traps installed at four sites: Beni Fouda, Ain Roua, Ain Azel and Ain Arnat. A total of 4,917 specimens were collected, including Stomoxys calcitrans (Linnaeus, 1758), Haematobia irritans (Linnaeus, 1758), Tabanidae spp. (Latreille, 1802) and Musca crassirostris (Stein, 1903). The latter species was identified and confirmed for the first time in Algeria using a dual morphological and molecular approach based on the characterisation of the mitochondrial COI gene, whose sequences have been deposited in GenBank (PV012500-PV012513). Abundance varied significantly according to season and altitude, with higher densities in summer and autumn, particularly in mountainous. The effectiveness of the traps was found to depend on the species: Nzi traps were more effective for M. crassirostris, while Vavoua traps captured more S. calcitrans. The detection of M. crassirostris extends its known range in North Africa and provides the first integrative, morphological and molecular reference for its presence in Algeria. This study provides essential baseline data for entomological vector surveillance and contributes to a better understanding of the diversity of blood-feeding and their potential role in the transmission of pathogens in the Sétif region. Keywords : Blood-feeding flies, Molecular confirmation, Nzi trap, Vavoua trap, Seasonal dynamics