Júlia dos Santos Silva

Observações Sobre Padrões Alimentares de Mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) no Pantanal Mato-Grossense

O habito alimentar dos culicideos foi estudado atraves da tecnica de precipitina. As coletas foram realizadas no km 52 da rodovia Transpantaneira (MT-060), a 65km da sede do municipio de Pocone (MT). Bimestralmente, de dezembro de 2002 a dezembro de 2003, foram realizadas capturas em armadilha Shannon e CDC automatica a base de CO2 das 15:00h as 21:00h. Foram utilizados os seguintes anti-soros: ave, roedor, humano, cavalo, boi, capivara e sapo. Das 2.134 femeas capturadas, 1.946 (92,2%) foram coletadas em armadilha de Shannon e 188 (8,8%) em armadilha CDC. Desse total, 276 femeas (13,0%) estavam ingurgitadas e proprias para o teste de precipitina, sendo 235 (85,1%) coletadas em armadilha de Shannon e 41 (14,9%) em CDC. Verificou-se que 84,2% dos especimes analisados reagiram para uma fonte alimentar e 15,8% para duas fontes. As especies Mansonia titillans (Walker), Culex nigripalpus (Theobald), Aedeomyia squamipennis (Theobald) e Psorophora albigenu (Peryassu) foram as mais frequentes e reagiram para todos os anti-soros. Os anofelinos Anopheles albitarsis (Lynch-Arribalzaga), An. matogrossensis (Lutz & Neiva) e An. triannulatus (Neiva & Pinto), com poucos especimes, reagiram para cinco anti-soros. As demais especies apresentaram positividade que variou de tres a seis anti-soros. As estimativas do indice alimentar (feeding index) revelaram resultados positivos para oito especies de culicideos, destas cinco apresentaram preferencia marcante para o hospedeiro capivara.

Preliminary investigation of Culicidae species in South Pantanal, Brazil and their potential importance in arbovirus transmission

In view of the high circulation of migratory birds and the environmental and climatic conditions which favor the proliferation of arthropods, the Brazilian Pantanal is susceptible to circulation of arboviruses. However, the amount of data concerning arbovirus vectors in this area is scarce; therefore the aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation of Culicidae species in the Nhecolândia Sub-region of South Pantanal, Brazil and their potential importance in the arbovirus transmission. A total of 3684 specimens of mosquitoes were captured, 1689 of which caught in the rainy season of 2007, were divided into 78 pools and submitted to viral isolation, Semi-Nested RT-PCR and Nested RT-PCR, with a view to identifying the most important arboviruses in Brazil. Simultaneously, 70 specimens of ticks found blood-feeding on horses were also submitted to the same virological assays. No virus was isolated and viral nucleic-acid detection by RT-PCR was also negative. Nevertheless, a total of 22 Culicidae species were identified, ten of which had previously been reported as vectors of important arboviruses. The diversity of species found blood-feeding on human and horse hosts together with the arboviruses circulation previously reported suggest that the Nhecolândia Sub-region of South Pantanal is an important area for arbovirus surveillance in Brazil.

Ocorrência de Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) em área urbana do estado do Tocantins

This is the first report of the presence of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) in the Tocantins State, Brazil, in urban area of the Mateiros city. Immature specimens (aquatic stages) of this vector were collected in water reservoirs, treeholes, old tires and others. The existence of Ae. albopictus in the metropolitan area poses a potential risk for the interaction of this mosquito species with the urban human population.

Culicidae community composition and temporal dynamics in Guapiacu Ecological Reserve, Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

A temporal observational study was conducted of the Culicidae fauna in a remnant area of Atlantic Forest within a private reserve (Guapiaçu Ecological Reserve-REGUA) presenting typical vegetation cover of dense rain forest, with some patches recovering a floristic composition similar to that of the original community. Research was carried out to analyze the influence of climatic factors (mean monthly temperature, rainfall, and air relative humidity) on the temporal dynamics of the mosquito communities that occur in the reserve. The completeness of the mosquito inventory was assessed with individual-based rarefaction-extrapolation curves. Differences in species composition between sites and months were tested with PERMANOVA. True diversities of orders 0, 1, and 2 (effective numbers) were estimated and compared between sites, months, and years. Multiple stepwise regressions were used to assess relationships between climatic variables, measures of diversity, and abundances of the most common species. There were significant interactive effects between year and site on measures of diversity. However, diversity estimates showed little variation among months, and these were weakly correlated with climatic variables. Abundances of the most common species were significantly related to temperature or relative humidity, but not rainfall. The presence of mosquito species known to be vectors of human diseases combined with an intermittent flow of visitors to the study area suggests there is a risk of disease transmission that warrants further monitoring.

A comparative study of the effect of multiple immersions on Aedini (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquito eggs with emphasis on sylvan vectors of yellow fever virus

The effect of multiple immersions on Haemagogus janthinomys , Haemagogus leucocelaenus , Aedes albopictus and Ochlerotatus terrens eggs was studied. Eggs were collected in April, June, October and December of 2011 in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Most of the Aedes and Ochlerotatus eggs hatched upon the first immersion, while Haemagogus eggs showed a varied instalment hatching response. The number of immersions required for hatching increased for eggs collected closer to the dry winter season.

Biodiversity and Times of Activity of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Biome of the Atlantic Forest in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

ABSTRACT A temporal observational study on culicid entoniofauna was conducted in a region characterized as a fragment of the Atlantic Forest that forms the Tinguá Biological Reserve in the State of Rio de Janeiro. This investigation was performed with the aim of analyzing the influence of climatic factors (temperature and relative air humidity) on the activity levels at different times of the day among mosquito species within the ecosystems that form the Tinguá Biological Reserve. The abundance index and dominance coefficient were calculated in relation to 61 mosquito species that were caught at four sampling sites, in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings. The results revealed that culicid species were distributed with greater incidence during the two diurnal periods and that their preference for times of the day was directly influenced by the climatic variables analyzed. The latter acted as limiting factors for occurrences of mosquito species.

Feeding Patterns of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) From Eastern Santa Catarina State, Brazil

ABSTRACT Blood-feeding sources of Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) collected in the eastern region of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina were analyzed by precipitin technique. One hundred fifty-four female mosquitoes collected by CDC traps in the Navegantes municipality 13–15 February 2005 reacted to one or more of eight antisera, including chicken, dog, goat, sheep, horse, opossum, human and rodent antisera. One hundred thirty-seven specimens (89%) reacted to only one source, and 17 (11%) specimens reacted to two sources. Among the 137 specimens reacting to only one source, reactions to rodent (50.4%), sheep (5.8%), chicken (5.1%), goat (5.1%), dog (2.2%), horse (3.6%), and human (3.6%) antisera were observed. The analyzed species demonstrated a high degree of opportunistic feeding behavior in relation to host preference. Results are compared with results from similar studies, and the low proportion of reactions to human antisera is discussed.

Biodiversity and influence of climatic factors on mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) around the Peixe Angical hydroelectric scheme in the state of Tocantins, Brazil

The influence of climatic factors on the seasonal frequency of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) at the Peixe Angical hydroelectric scheme (Tocantins, Brazil) was evaluated in the present paper. Mosquito surveys were conducted in the municipality of Peixe and in areas surrounding the reservoir in the municipalities of Paranã and São Salvador do Tocantins during two daytime periods (10 am-12 noon and 2 pm-4 pm) and two night-time periods (6 pm-8 pm and 6 pm-10 am) over 14 months. In total, 10,840 specimens from 42 species were captured, 84.5% of which belonged to the Culcinae. The most common species were Anopheles darlingi, Psorophora albipes and Sabethes chloropterus. The number of Culicidae specimens was higher in months with higher rainfall and air humidity than during the drier months. The large population of Ps. albipes and the presence of both An. darlingi (primary vector for human malaria parasites) and Haemagogus janthinomys (primary vector for yellow fever virus) are highlighted.

Diversity of yellow fever mosquito vectors in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

INTRODUCTION Environmental modifications caused by human activities have led to changes in mosquito vector populations, and sylvatic species have adapted to breeding in urban areas. METHODS Mosquitoes were collected using ovitraps in three sampling sites in the Atlantic Forest in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. RESULTS We collected 2,162 Culicidae specimens. Haemagogus janthinomys and Haemagogus leucocelaenus, both sylvatic yellow fever virus vectors, were the most common species found. CONCLUSION There is a potential for the transmission of arboviruses in and around these natural reserves. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain entomological surveillance programs in the region.

Evaluation of mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) species richness using two sampling methods in the hydroelectric reservoir of Simplício, Minas Gerais, Brazil

We compared two types of light traps used for monitoring mosquito abundance in the hydroelectric reservoir of Simplício, Além Paraíba — Minas Gerais. Mosquitoes were captured bimonthly using automatic CDC and Shannon traps before the filling of the hydroelectric plant reservoir from December 2008 to December 2009. In total, 1474 specimens from 13 genera were captured. Among the captured specimens, several species known to be vectors of disease-causing agents for humans and/or animals were identified, including Anopheles aquasalis, Aedes albopictus, Coquillettidia venezuelensis, Haemagogus leucocelaenus, and Aedes scapularis. Sampling efficacy between the four capture sites was not found to be significantly different, irrespective of species captured or type of trap used. Poor correlation (r x, y = -0.0444) between the number of mosquito species and capture site was observed when not influenced by the type of trap used. Among the installation sites of the CDC and Shannon traps in the areas investigated, CDC traps fixed in livestock shelters obtained an overall higher abundance of species captured.