** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** CULICOIDES, COMMONLY KNOWN AS BITING MIDGES, ARE TINY FLIES FOUND GLOBALLY AND BITE HUMANS AND ANIMALS.CULICOIDES TRANSMIT MULTIPLE PATHOGENS TO HUMAN AND ANIMAL HOSTS. NOTABLY, BLUETONGUE VIRUS (BTV) AND EPIZOOTIC HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE VIRUS (EHDV) INFECTED WILD AND DOMESTIC RUMINANTS FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES (US).IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE TOTAL GLOBAL IMPACT OF BTV COSTS UP TO $3 BILLION USD, AND $144 MILLION USD IN THE US. DUE TO INFECTION OF THESE VIRUSES,THERE CAN BE SEVERE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES FOR SMALL-SCALE FARMS THAT ARE NOT ABLE TO RECOVER FROM THE COST OF CULLING ANIMALS, TREATMENT, AND VECTOR CONTROL STRATEGIES. IN 2006-2008, THERE WAS A BTV OUTBREAK IN EUROPE THAT COST ~2 MILLION USD, AND THERE CONTINUES TO BE EPIDEMICS AND INCURSIONS OF THE VIRUS IN EUROPE AND SURROUNDING REGIONS. THERE ARE REPORTED OUTBREAKS OF BTV AND EHDV IN THE US, AND THE CAPTIVE CERVID INDUSTRY IS PRONE TO LOSSES FROM EHDV, FURTHERING THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THESE VIRUSES. SUSCEPTIBLE HOST POPULATIONS ARE AT AN INCREASED RISK AS CLIMATE CHANGE, URBANIZATION, AND HABITAT FRAGMENTATION CONTINUE TO INCREASE THE CHANCE OF DISEASE VECTOR EXPANSION AND SPILLOVER INTO VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.STUDIES ON THE CAPTIVE CERVID INDUSTRY IN FLORIDA HAVE FOUND THAT FIELD-COLLECTEDCULICOIDES SPECIES OFTEN TEST POSITIVE FOR BTV AND EHDV. C. STELLIFER, C. DEBILIPALPIS, AND C. VENUSTUS,ARE LIKELY CULICOIDESSPECIES CANDIDATES FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF THESE VIRUSES TO RUMINANT POPULATIONS IN ARKANSAS, HOWEVER THERE IS NO CURRENT INFORMATION ON WHICH SPECIES ARE TRANSMITTING BTV AND EHDV.THESE VIRUSES HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR DEER DIE-OFFS, SO DETERMINING SPECIES DIVERSITY AND INFECTION STATUS CAN ALLOW US TO IMPLEMENT TARGETED CONTROL MEASURES THROUGH PROTECTING SUSCEPTIBLE HOSTS AND ELIMINATING VECTOR SPECIES PRESENT IN AN AREA.THIS PROPOSED STUDY IS PART OF MY DISSERTATION EXAMINING CULICOIDES ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY ACROSS ARKANSAS. CURRENTLY, I AM COLLECTING BITING MIDGES WITHIN THE SIX ECOREGIONS THAT COMPRISE THE STATE FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE SUMMERS (2022-2024), AND I HAVE FINISHED CULICOIDES COLLECTIONS IN FOUR ECOREGIONS. PATHOGEN TRANSMISSION IN THE FIELD REQUIRES THE VECTOR, THE PATHOGEN, AND THE HOST, SO UNDERSTANDING VECTOR-HOST RELATIONSHIPS IS CRUCIAL FOR DISEASE AND VECTOR MANAGEMENT AND CAN HELP US PREDICT WHERE DISEASE OUTBREAKS MAY OCCUR, AND TARGET CONTROL MEASURES APPROPRIATELY. BITING MIDGES THAT ARE COLLECTED IN THE FIELD THAT HAVE FED ON A HOST WILL UNDERGO BLOOD MEAL ANALYSIS, WHICH ALLOWS US TO LEARN WHICH SPECIES ARE FEEDING ON WHICH ANIMALS, SO CONTROL MEASURES CAN BE TARGETED TOWARDS THE ANIMALS MOST AT RISK, WHETHER THAT BE CAPTIVE CERVIDS, LIVESTOCK OR WILDLIFE. HERE, WE PROPOSE TO SEQUENCE THE BLOOD MEALS OF ENGORGED CULICOIDES COLLECTED DURING MY ONGOING ECOREGION SURVEY TO IDENTIFY HOST-ASSOCIATIONS. IN ADDITION TO BLOOD MEAL ANALYSIS, CULICOIDES SPECIES THAT ARE COLLECTED IN ARKANSAS WILL BE DEPOSITED IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS INSECT MUSEUM,SO OTHER RESEARCHERS, PRODUCERS, AND STUDENTS CAN ACCESS THIS INFORMATION.