Insect (Hexapoda) diversity in the Oceanic Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil: Seasonality and Populational Density of Tabanidae (Diptera)

Abstract

The seasonal population density is informed for two epidemiologically important species of bloodsucking Tabanidae, Tabanus occidentalis Linnaeus and T. pungens Wiedemann, recorded at the Fernando de Noronha archipelago that was never connected to the continent. The two species are widespread in the Neotropical Region, have not been recorded from any other oceanic island, and have most likely been introduced accidentally in the archipelago. Tabanus occidentalis dominated the samples, encompassing 99.6% of the specimens collected in the two local seasons, rainy and dry. Tabanus pungens was rarer, encompassing 0.4% of the specimens collected mainly in the dry season. The tabanids of Fernando de Noronha are able to transmit blood pathogens, bringing risks to the health of the livestock. They also pester the tourists, which brings losses to the local tourist industry. Larvae of both species were already collected in the water lettuce Pistia stratiotes Linnaeus and it is highly recommend that this introduced aquatic plant be removed from the ponds of Fernando de Noronha to control tabanid populations.

Atypical case of pattern disruption in sex proportions of Tabanidae collections with malaise traps in ecuadorian forests

“…In other locations, such as the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in Brazil, a signi cant number of male individuals of Tabanus occidentalis were captured using Malaise traps. Apparently, the collections at this speci c site were near the summit of the island and represented one of the best-preserved areas (Rafael et al 2021), contrary to Tiquibuzo, which exhibited vegetative patches and anthropogenic activity.…”

“…Malaise traps have demonstrated high e cacy in capturing female horse ies through ight interception, but not of males horse ies. This widely recognized phenomenon has been documented in numerous studies conducted in the world across different regions and latitudes (Krolow et al 2017;Herczeg et al 2018), with few exceptions (Rafael et al 2021). Other alternative methods, such as deploying light traps above the canopy, offer distinct advantages for capturing male horse ies (Krolow et al 2010), well as shiny black plastic oil traps (Krčmar 2013) and polarized re ection traps.…”