Abstract
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.
Highlights
Culicidae is one of most studied arthropod groups regarding epidemiological interest (Forattini, 2002)
The Atlantic Forest biome is considered of high diversity and potentially presents several niches options for the development of immature Culicidae as well as vertebrate fauna, which can be used as hosts for blood-sucking (Bona and Navarro-Silva, 2008)
The knowledge about the Culicidae fauna in conservation is important, beyond their epidemiological importance; they can be used to evaluate the level of changes in an area as biological indicators of these changes whether by the increase of density or its absence (Forattini, 1998)
Summary
Culicidae is one of most studied arthropod groups regarding epidemiological interest (Forattini, 2002). The Atlantic Forest biome is considered of high diversity and potentially presents several niches options for the development of immature Culicidae as well as vertebrate fauna, which can be used as hosts for blood-sucking (Bona and Navarro-Silva, 2008). The intensity of light is the main factor for changes in the behavior of many species, with the crepuscular period establishing the beginning or the end of activities for these mosquitoes (Forattini et al, 1981; Bona and Navarro-Silva, 2008). Several species of de genera Anopheles Meigen, 1818 and Culex Linnaeus, 1758, have crepuscular and nocturnal habits (Forattini, 2002)
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