Simulium is a genus of black flies, which may transmit diseases such as onchocerciasis (river blindness). It is a large genus with almost 2,000 species and 38 subgenera. [1] The flies are pool feeders.

Over 1,800 of the species belong to the genus Simulium. [2] Most black flies gain nourishment by feeding on the blood of mammals, including humans, although the males feed mainly on nectar. They are usually small, black or gray, with short legs and antennae.

Black flies, or buffalo gnats, of the genus Simulium are dipterans that have an essentially free-living life cycle during which the adult males and females blood feed on a variety of mammals, including people, and birds.

Simulium damnosum (the most widely known), and S. neavei vector the filarial parasite Onchocerca volvulus that causes human onchocerciasis (oncho) or river blindness in several East and West African countries.

Onchocerca volvulus causes onchocerciasis (river blindness). During a blood meal, an infected blackfly (genus Simulium) introduces third-stage filarial larvae onto the skin of the human host, where they penetrate into the bite wound .

Simulium (black fly) is a genus of insect that prefers fast-running (highly oxygenated) waters. These biting insects are known primarily as a nuisance pest in the U.S., but pose significant health risks in other parts of the world.

2024年3月20日 · Our results serve as base for effective Simuliidae monitoring. The black fly genus Simulium includes medically and ecologically important species, characterized by a wide variation of ecological niches largely determining their distributional patterns.

2014年12月26日 · Identification to genus is often difficult, except that clearly marked flies, with leg bands, scutal stripes, or abdominal spots, are typically in genus Simulium. The family can be divided into three monophyletic groups based on wing veins.

2024年6月4日 · An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information.

The Subfamily PARASIMULIINAE contains just 4 species from western North America. The largest genus is Simulium with nearly 1200 species arranged in 42 subgenera. Simulium occurs in all zoogeographical regions with the greatest number (410) reported from the Palaearctic region.