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We investigated the spatial and temporal distribution of blackfly larvae on a mesohabitat scale atfour different breeding sites in the Brazilian savannah "Cerrado. "A total of 2,385 larvae of 12 different species were collected, and three of the sampling sites revealedspecies richness and diversity peaks in April. A principal components analysis was performed to reduce abiotic data into a smaller set of independent variables, such as precipitation and river size, and subsequent linear regressions showed that Simulium subpallidum was positively correlated with precipitation.This species, along with S. nigrimanum, was negatively correlated withriver size, whereasS. perflavum was negatively correlated with precipitation. Beta diversity was negatively correlated withprecipitation, and black fly taxocenoses were markedly different between wet and dry seasons, as shown through nonmetric multidimensional scaling, suggesting that precipitation playsa major role in structuring these communities, probably because of enhanced drift and the dendritic nature of lotic metacommunities. Journal of Vector Ecology 39 (2): 321-327. 2014.

The Blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) are a cosmopolitan dipteran family, comprising 2102 described species. Although insects of this family are widely distributed, their immatures are restricted to areas where suitable lotic conditions allow their development. While the Onchocerciasis has been largely studied over the years, it still lacks a more integrated approach with the vector ecology. In this paper, we examine the ecological factors that potentially play a role in the disease dynamics. Our aim is to identify the ecological factors that are potentially important in the vector dynamics and the gaps in the current knowledge of blackfly ecology that could lead to a better understanding of the underlying factors behind the disease dynamics.

Este artigo fala sobre a utilização de coleções zoológicas como recurso didático para o processo de ensino e aprendizagemem nível de graduação, nos cursos de Ciências Biológicas e Engenharia Ambiental, em uma Instituição deEnsino Superior (IES) da região sul Fluminense, Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Diferentes estratégias metodológicas sãonecessárias e utilizadas para o ensino da biologia e da zoologia, lançando-se mão da utilização de espaços formais e/ ou informais. Relata-se aqui a experiência de atualização e curadoria de uma coleção didática de zoologia, em moldessimilares aos de uma coleção científica. O objetivo desse projeto foi trazer aos estudantes uma maior compreensãosobre a diversidade biológica, assim como um melhor entendimento sobre as relações de parentesco entre as espécies, táxons supra-específicos, e o ser humano, além do conhecimento sobre a composição faunística dos mais diversos ecossistemas, sejam eles, terrestres, marinhos ou límnicos.