Tabanidae (Diptera) captured on horses in Amazon Forest fragments of the state of Rondônia, Brazil

• Published in: Acta tropica 2023-01, Vol.237, p.106734-106734, Article 106734
• Main Authors: Zamarchi, Tallita Beatriz de Oliveira, Henriques, Augusto Loureiro, Krolow, Tiago Kütter, Krüger, Rodrigo Ferreira, Rodrigues, Gratchela Dutra, Munari, Amanda, Pessoa, Felipe Arley Costa, Camargo, e Luís Marcelo Aranha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amazon; Animal bait; Horse flies; Seasonality
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106734

•The richness represented 42% of tabanid fauna for rondônia (S = 109).•The number of horsefly species and abundance reduces from the rainy to the dry season.•In Rondônia, of the most abundant species, Tabanus antarcticus was the dominant species.•Tabanus occidentalis occurred in both seasons with intermediate abundance.•Stypommisa aripuana was the most abundant species in the dry season.Tabanus antarcticus, Pityocera cervus, Stypommisa aripuana and Tabanus occidentalis can be very important in the transmission of pathogens to horses. Tabanidae is one of the most diverse families of hematophagous dipterans. Tabanids, in general, are mechanical vectors of some pathogens. Given the vector importance and the lack of knowledge of the tabanid fauna in horses in Amazon Forest fragments of the state of Rondônia, this work aimed to determine the season that the different species of horse flies prefer to carryout hematophagy on horses and verify whether the horse fly community remains the same throughout the year. The sampling areas for tabanid captures were in the municipality of Monte Negro, Western Amazon, Brazil. Four new occurrences were recorded for the state of Rondônia: Stenotabanus albilinearis, Tabanus fuscofasciatus, T. macquarti and T. restrepoensis, which increases the number of species for the state to 109. The horse flies were most frequently collected on the hind leg (43.15%) and front leg (31.11%), followed by the belly (7.41%) and the ear (5.18%). In the other anatomical regions, the collection frequency was 13.15% of the remaining individuals.