Mosquitoes do periodo crepuscular em area de Floresta Atlantica no sul do Brasil

• Published in: Brazilian journal of biology 2017-01, Vol.77 (1), p.60
• Main Authors: Orlandin, E, Santos, E.B, Piovesan, M, Favretto, M.A, Schneeberger, A.H, Souza, V.O, Midler, G.A, Wagner, G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1519-6984
• DOI: 10.1590/1519-6984.09815

Crepuscular period is one of the factors that may influence the biting activity of mosquitoes. Many of these insects have a peak activity in this period. The purpose of this study was to investigate the afternoon crepuscular activity of Culicidae in a remaining area of Atlantic Forest in western Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. Moreover, the possible influence of abiotic factors, the abundance and species richness were verified. In order to better analyze the influence of crepuscular period in specific composition and abundance of mosquitoes, the dusk was divided into three periods: pre-sunset, sunset and post-sunset. At the end of the study, nine hundred and eight four specimens distributed in 12 genera and 23 species were collected. Trichoprosopon pallidiventer (Lutz, 1905) (59.76%), Aedes crinifer (Theobald, 1903) (8.13%), Ae. scapularis (Rondani, 1848) (5.89%) were the most abundant species. Spring time presented the greatest abundance and species richness. During the study, among the three periods evaluated, pre-sunset had the greatest abundance and post-sunset the lowest. Pre-sunset and sunset had the greatest similarity between species. Regarding to the abiotic factors evaluated seven and 15 days before sampling, they did not present significant correlation for the three most abundant species. However, temperature had a positive correlation to these species. Moreover, the correlation between collected species and its possible role as vectors of etiological agents of diseases was discussed. Keywords: abiotic factors, Culicidae, Diptera, Hematophagy, Santa Catarina state. O periodo crepuscular e um dos fatores que pode influenciar na atividade hematofagica dos mosquitos. Muitos desses insetos iniciam ou terminam suas atividades nesse periodo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar os Culicidae que ocorrem no crepusculo vespertino em uma area de Floresta Atlantica no oeste de Santa Catarina, sul do Brasil. Alem disso, foi analisada a possivel influencia de fatores abioticos, bem como abundancia e riqueza de especies. Para melhor avaliar a influencia do periodo crepuscular na composicao das especies e na abundancia destas, o crepusculo foi dividido em tres periodos: pre-crepusculo, crepusculo e pos-crepusculo. Ao final do estudo foram coletados 984 exemplares distribuidos em 12 generos e 23 especies. Trichoprosopon pallidiventer (Lutz, 1905) (59,76%), Aedes crinifer (Theobald, 1903) (8,13%) eAe. scapularis (Rondani, 1848) (5,89%) foram as especies mais a