Resumo Apresenta-se uma lista de flebotomíneos com 32 espécies, sendo 1 Brumptomyia e 31 Lutzomyia, distribuídas nos subgêneros Psychodopygus (6), Nyssomyia (5) ,

Dengue and Aedes aegypti are widespread in the State of Maranhão. During 1995, 87 of the 136 of the State's counties, including 176 towns and 480,687 households, were studied, of which 30 counties (34. 4%), 118 towns (67.0%) and 10,357 households (2.1%) were positive for Aedes aegypti. The positive counties are distributed as follow: 3 on São Luís Island, 7 in the Amazonia of Maranhão, 12 in the southern zone of the cerrados or savannas, and 5 in the mixed forest/savanna/palm grove zone. One positive county for Ae. aegypti was located in each of the following: alluvial fields, forest/palm grove, and sand dune/shoals areas. The Ae. aegypti-positive household rates were higher in the Amazonia of Maranhão (3.5%) and on São Luís Island (2.5%), because they are the most heavily traveled migratory and trade routes between Maranhão and neighboring states and are also the State's main economic centers. Household infestation rates for Ae. aegypti and reported dengue case rates were higher during the rainy season, showing the importance of rain in forming prime breeding sites for Aedes and spreading dengue.

A study was conducted in an early second-growth forest aiming at knowing the richness, relative abundance, seasonal distribution, and hourly frequency of euglossine bees, and their association with scent baits. Male bees were attracted to cineole, vanillin, methyl salicylate, and eugenol. The baits were hooked 1.5 m high and 6 m from one another. The specimens were collected from December 1997 to November 1998, once a month, from 7:00 to 17:00 h. A total of 339 male euglossine bees were caught, accounting for 19 species and four genera. The most common species was E. cordata, making up 69.9% of the individuals, followed by E. truncata (2.3%), E. violaceifrons, and E. smaragdina (2.1%). The most attractive scent was cineole, which baited 87% of the specimens and 73.7% of the species. Vanillin, the second most visited bait, eured 7.6% of the specimens and 26.3% of the species. E. surinamensis was only collected with this bait. Methyl salicylate and eugenol baited combined 2.6% of the specimens. However, by species numbers Methyl salicylate attracted 21% whereas eugenol was attractive for 15.8% of them. In general, the species were more abundantly found in the rainy season (January-June). The hourly activity data showed that the euglossine bees were attracted to the baits all day long, but at a higher frequency in the morning period, peaking between 8:00 and 10:00 h.

Culicoides biting midges are medically important haematophagous flies that transmit diseases to animals and humans. This work deals with the basic ecology of Culicoides populations in northeastern Brazil. Adult biting midge populations in and around urban and rural communities were sampled monthly from September 2007 to October 2008 with light traps. In total, 10,803 Culicoides midges representing 17 species were collected. The most frequently collected species were Culicoides paucienfuscatus (83%), Culicoides leopoldoi (12%), Culicoides insignis (2%), and Culicoides paraensis (1%). Trap catches and species diversity were highest in chicken shelters at both urban and rural sites, followed by pigsties. The Culicoides fauna is composed chiefly of species broadly distributed in the Neotropics. Domestic animals are important factors for attracting and maintaining biting midge populations in peridomiciliary areas, especially C. paucienfuscatus. Further work is needed to better understand abiotic and biotic factors affecting Culicoides populations of northeastern Brazil.

Apresentam-se dez espécies do gênero Lutzomyia França, 1924, encontradas nos cerrados do nordeste maranhense. As capturas foram realizadas das 18h às 6h, uma vez por mês, durante nove meses, nos municípios de Aldeias Altas, Capinzal do Norte, Caxias, Codó, Coelho Neto, Timbiras, Timon e Tuntum, áreas endêmicas das leishmanioses visceral e tegumentar. No total, foram capturados 1.868 espécimens em armadilhas luminosas tipo CDC, sendo 377 no intradomicílio (64,7% machos e 35,3% fêmeas) e 1.491 no peridomicílio (73% machos e 27% fêmeas). As espécies encontradas foram as que seguem: Lutzomyia cortelezii, Lutzomyia evandroi, Lutzomyia goiana, Lutzomyia intermedia, Lutzomyia lenti, Lutzomyia longipalpis, Lutzomyia longipennis, Lutzomyia squamiventris, Lutzomyia termitophila e Lutzomyia whitmani. As mais abundantes no intra e no peridomicílios foram L. longipalpis (67,4% e 70,2%, respectivamente) e L. whitmani (31% e 24,7%, respectivamente). L. longipalpis ocorreu em todos os meses estudados, nas estações seca e chuvosa, e em todas as localidades trabalhadas.