Abstract

An entomological prospection to show the species composition and diurnal activity of tabanids was carried out using 15 Vavoua traps, during the rainy season (25th Sept-5th Oct and 21st Oct-9th Nov 2018), in the secondary forest [Ivindo National Park (INP)] and Village-Town sites in and around the biosphere reserve Ipassa-IRET Makokou in Gabon. In total, 839 tabanids were caught with 747 recorded at INP and regrouped under 11 species of the genus Tabanus [T. taeniola (57.76%), T. ricardae (26.32%), T. par (5.54%), T. ruficrus (3.74%), T. socius (3.74%), T. disjunctus (2.49%), T. marmorosus (0.28%) and T. obscurehirtus (0.14%)]. However, two species of the genus Chrysops [C. dimidiatus (70.83%) and C. silaceus (29.17%)] and one species of the genus Haematopota [H. pluvialis (100%)] were only identified at INP. While in the Village-Town sites, 92 tabanids were caught and regrouped under five species of the genus Tabanus [T. ruficrus (14.13%), T. taeniola (9.78%), T. ricardae (73.91%), T. par (1.09%), and T. marmorosus (1.09%)]. Tabanids were more abundant in the forest (7.12 tabanid/trap/day) as compared to the Village-Town (0.77 t/t/d) with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). At INP, tabanids showed a unimodal activity pattern with peak attained between 12-14H and in the anthropized milieu (14-16H) and dominated by females.

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