Comparative analysis of mosquito community sampling methods (Diptera: Culicidae) in an area of Atlantic Forest fragment of Brazil
Culicidae, immature, mosquito breeding sites
Fauna surveys of mosquitoes in areas of natural environment are of considerable importance in ecological studies. Several traps have been developed to aid in the collection of eggs and immature mosquitoes, and some of these traps are developed from plastic, bamboo and tire containers and are being used for the purpose of improving the surveillance of biological vectors. The present work evaluated and compared the sampling methods using traps (bamboo, larvitramps and ovitraps), in order to study the viability of these different traps and detect the most accepted by Culicidae females of epidemiological importance in a fragment of Atlantic Forest of the Association of Navy Steers (ATA) located in the municipality of Nova Iguaçu, state of Rio de Janeiro. During the sampling period, from July 2017 to June 2018, 1,854 specimens of Culicidae were identified, belonging to 16 species, two of which are epidemiologically important in the transmission of arboviruses: Haemagogus (Con.) leucocelaenus (Dyar & Shannon, 1924) and Aedes (Stg.) albopictus Skuse, 1984. The dominant species were: Limatus durhamii Theobald, 1901 (45.0%), Limatus pseudomethisticus Bonne-Wepster & Bonner, 1920 (23.0%), Culex (Car.) Iridescens (Lutz, 1905) (12.6%) and Trichoprosopon (Tri.) digitatum Rondani, 1848 (10.4%). It was observed that the traps of larvitrampas presented greater acceptance for pregnant females to lay their eggs, followed by the traps of ovitrap. The study provided relevant information about the knowledge regarding the use of artificial containers by culicidae, indicating genetic plasticity that directs them evolutionarily towards the domiciliation of some species, since finding them in tire traps shows affinity with the anthropic environment