Daniéla Cristina Calado

Avaliação da influência da temperatura sobre o desenvolvimento de Aedes albopictus

OBJECTIVE To verify the temperatures influence on the Aedes albopictus development stages under laboratory conditions. METHODS The development period of eggs, larvae and pupas were assessed at constant temperatures, 15 degrees C, 20 degrees C, 25 degrees C and 30 degrees C, inside acclimatized chambers with 70-85% of relative humidity, and LD 12:12 h. The effect of the four constant temperatures was assessed using variance analysis. RESULTS The incubation periods of eggs were 38.38, 19.09, 13.10, and 10.44 days. Larval periods for males lasted 30.13, 13.83, 7.36, and 5.57 days; for females it lasted 33.22, 15.00, 8.06, and 6.16 days. Pupil period for males lasted 8.01, 4.92, 2.40, and 1.76 days; and for females it lasted 8.15, 5.11, 2.60, and 1.88 days under the temperatures of 15 degrees C, 20 degrees C, 25 degrees C and 30 degrees C, respectively. In all development stages for all temperatures, significant differences were found at the level of 5%. The development period was inversely associated to the temperature, and the larval period was shorter in males than in females. Under the temperatures of 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C, the development of immature stages was shorter and their viability was greater than at 15 degrees C. CONCLUSIONS In the conditions the experiment was performed, the temperature affected significantly and inversely proportional Aedes albopictus immature stages. These results show that immature stages are more susceptible at low temperatures due to the longer time required completing their development. This could be used in vector control strategies.

PCR-RAPD and PCR-RFLP polymorphisms detected in Anopheles cruzii (Diptera, Culicidae)

The aim of the present study was to examine genetic variability in populations of An. cruzii by employing PCR-RAPD and PCR-RFLP markers. All analyses were carried out using individuals of the F1 generation of wild caught females obtained in Santa Catarina State (Florianopolis and Sao Francisco do Sul), Parana State (Morretes, Paranagua and Guaratuba) and Sao Paulo State (Cananeia). In the PCR-RAPD experiments, seven primers were used for comparisons within and among populations. The restriction profile of the ITS2 including a fragment of both 5.8S and 28S regions of the rDNA was obtained with the enzymes BstUI, HaeIII, TaqI, HhaI, Sau96I, HinfI, HincII and NruI. The PCR-RAPD method detected a large number of polymorphic bands. Genetic distance among populations of An. cruzii varied from 0,0214 to 0,0673, suggesting that all individuals used in the analyses belong to a single species. The number of migrants per generation (Nm) was 4.3, showing the existence of gene flow among populations. The restriction profile of the ITS2, 5.8S and 28S gene regions was similar in all An. cruzii samples, whereas the results obtained by using HhaI and NruI are indicative that the individuals analyzed have nucleotide sequences distinct from those of An. cruzii samples from Peruibe and Juquiazinho deposited in GenBank.

Identificação de Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii Dyar & Knab e Anopheles (Kerteszia) homunculus Komp (Diptera, Culicidae, Anophelinae) através de marcadores moleculares (RAPD e RFLP)

Adults females, larvae and pupae of A. cruzii Dyar & Knab, 1908 and A. homunculus Komp, 1937 are very similar morphologically, causing difficulty in their proper identification with traditional taxonomic characters. Here, RAPD and RFLP were used to resolve this problem of identification of these two species. Mosquito DNA, amplified with the random primers OPY-05 and OPY-10, and enzymatic digestion of the ITS2 region with HaeIII and Sau96I generated species-specific patterns. Thus, through the use of these molecular markers, these two species may be correctly identified when only females, larvae ou pupae are collected, or when individuals are damaged in the collection process.

Atividade de Mansonia spp. (Mansoniini, Culicidae) em fragmento florestal na área urbana de Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil

Vegetation islands surrounded by urban areas can provide favourable conditions to the development of Culicidae population. In Regional Iguacu Park (Curitiba, Parana) there are many lakes with aquatic plants that can be used by Mansoniini immatures. The aim of this investigation was to know the Mansonia Blanchard, 1901 species that are blood feeding during the day in a wood area inside the park. The mosquitoes captures were carried out from september, 1999 to august, 2000. Three species that belong to Mansonia were identified, and the percentages were: 74.7% de M. fonsecai (Pinto, 1932), 10.7% de M. wilsoni (Barreto & Coutinho, 1944) e 8.3% de M. tittilans (Walker, 1848). By the analysis of the activity hour, the species were collected during all the day in the same rhythm, and the hours mean were 9.5, 1.3 e 1.0, respectively.

Atividade de Culicidae em remanescente florestal na região urbana de Curitiba (Paraná, Brasil)

Vegetation islands inside urban area can propitiate the formation of: a) adults refuge to many mosquitoes species, b) diversity of hosters, c) allows the proliferation of immature stages through naturals and artificial breeding, these ones were done by the interaction between antropic activity developed in these spaces or around areas. Considering the possibilities of contacts between the vector and the human population, the aim of this work was to verify the Culicidae species that can use man as blood source in the restricted areas of Botanical Garden, Curitiba. The capture of adults using the method of human bait at soil level, inside the forest, monthly during the period of October 13th 1998 to September 22nd 1999, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 312 Culicidae specimens were captured, and 15 species were found. The predomiant species belong to Culex (Culex) coronator Dyar & Knab, 1906 group. Others species found with potential epidemiological importance were: Haemagogus (Conopostegus) leucocelaenus (Dyar & Shannon, 1924), Ochlerotatus (Ochlerotatus) fluviatilis (Lutz, 1904) e Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) strodei Root, 1926.

Comunidade de mosquitos (Diptera, Culicidae) em recipientes antrópicos introduzidos em área rural e urbana da região metropolitana de Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil

Immature stages of Culicidae were collected in artificial containers in three conditions, between November 1997 and November 1998, in the rural area of Sao Jose dos Pinhais, Parana, Brazil. Eight species were identified: Culex (Culex) eduardoi Casal & Garcia, 1968, Culex (Culex) acharistus Root, 1927, Culex (Culex) group coronator, Culex (Lutzia) bigoti Bellardi, 1962, Aedes (Protomacleaya) terrens (Walker, 1856), Limatus durhamii Theobald, 1901, Txorhynchites theobaldi (Dyar & Knab, 1906) and Phoniomyia sp. The Berger & Parker index was obtained for each condition and kind of container. These results were compared with those of Silva & Lozovei (1996) in the urban area of Curitiba. A greater number of species was observed in the rural area, with different dominance under each condition. The introduction of artificial containers can not show the number of Culicidae species that are present in an area, but it can indicate the species that show the greatest adaptability to environmental modifications produced by human activity.

Polimorfismos em Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii Dyar & Knab (Diptera, Culicidae) detectados através de PCR-RAPD. Variabilidade genética entre indivíduos de mesma progênie

Genetic variation in broods of Anopheles cruzii was studied. Mosquitoes were collected in Morretes and Paranagua (two municipalities in the State of Parana, Southern Brazil) from which broods were reared. DNA was collected from these broods, from which six random-sequence primers were used in PCR. In within-brood analyses, all markers revealed a high-degree of polymorphisms within the broods. Detailed studies of the within-brood variability will help solve taxonomic problems in this group, since differences in fragment patterns are used to distinguish species.