Abstract
Abstract Mosquitoes comprehend a group with a major impact on public health, because some species transmit parasites vertebrate hosts. Comparative studies between preserved environment and disturbed areas provide important epidemiological information, due to the major knowledge on species populational dynamics and the possibility of a contact between vector species and human population. This work aims to characterize and compare the fauna of mosquitoes in the Goytacazes National Forest (GNF) and surrounding area, in the State of Espírito Santo, in Brazil. Collections occurred simultaneously in a preserved environment and in a peridomicile, from 15:00 to 18:00, between July 2008 and May 2009. In each environment, it was used a modified trap of Shannon type. As a result, 1,490 specimens from 14 genera and 19 identified species were collected. The species diversity (H = 1.95), species richness (S = 17), equitability index (J = 0.68) and the number of collected specimens (n = 1,100) were higher in the forest environment. The plentiful species were respectively Aedes (Ochlerotatus) scapularis (Rondani, 1848), Culex (Culex) nigripalpus Theobald, 1901 and Aedes (Ochlerotatus) fulvus (Wiedemann, 1828). Our results demonstrate that the occurrence of vector species in this region increases the potential risk of diverse arboviruses occurrence, especially wild-type yellow fever.
Highlights
The Atlantic Forest is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al 2000, Orme et al 2005)
Aedes (Ochlerotatus) scapularis and Cx. (Cux.) nigripalpus were the most abundant species in both studied environments and there was no significant difference in the numbers of specimens between these two environments
The culicides fauna observed in the forest environment presented a composition of bioindicators of anthropogenic areas, represented by Ae. (Och.) scapularis and the Tribe Mansoniini species (Dorvillé 1996, Guimarães et al 2000, Cardoso et al 2011), indicating that the area presents a significant degree of environmental degradation, despite being a unit of Atlantic Forest Federal Conservation
Summary
The Atlantic Forest is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al 2000, Orme et al 2005). The association between mosquitoes and these diseases has stimulated researches on the fauna, geographic distribution and ecology of these insects, especially in areas with potential risk of pathogen transmission. In the State of Espírito Santo, the few existing studies on the fauna characterization and diversity of mosquitoes are directed to Anophelinae subfamily and areas of potential risk of malaria (Andrade & Brandão 1957, Deane et al 1968, Natal et al 2007, Meneguzzi et al 2009, Rezende et al 2009a, b, 2013, Silva et al 2013). In the mountainous region of Espírito Santo, where sporadic cases of malaria are notified, studies have incriminated Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii Dyar & Knab, 1908 as the main vector of Plasmodium vivax (Grassi & Feletti, 1890) (Rezende et al 2009b, 2013). There are several areas with potential occurrence of An. (Nys.) darlingi in the State of Espírito Santo, which deserve additional studies to understand the Anopheles Meigen, 1818 fauna (Meneguzzi et al 2009)
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