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.Keywords: abiotic factors, Culicidae, Diptera, Hematophagy, Santa Catarina state. Mosquitos (Diptera

No abstract

Knowing which habitats (e.g. forest interiors or edges) are used by mosquitos and their relationship with possible environmental changes can assist in the development of public policies for the prevention of mosquito‐borne disease epidemics. This study assessed the influence of abiotic factors and vegetation structure on a mosquito community in an Atlantic rainforest remnant frequented by humans. Biting mosquito collections were undertaken by two operators and carried out every 2 weeks between October 2014 and October 2015, during the afternoon, at three points within the forest: A1 (40 m from the edge), A2 (220 m from the edge) and A3 (270 m from the edge). A significant difference was found between tree circumference at breast height from the different areas, as well as in tree height. However, no significant difference in the analysed abiotic factors between areas was observed. The paired comparison of mosquito abundance between the sample areas indicated that area A3 was different from area A1. Additionally, the abundance of the analysed species (Aedes crinifer, Aedes scapularis, Aedes serratus, Psorophora ferox, Sabethes aurescens, Sabethes identicus, Trichoprosopon pallidiventer and Wyeomyia limai) increased with distance from the forest edge. This observation may suggest that the abundance of certain species may be indicative of the level of disturbance of a forest.