Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) fauna in parks in greater São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Municipal parks in the city of Sã o Paulo, which are used for leisure purposes, contain remnants of the flora of the Atlantic Forest, as well as lakes and springs, and are home to mammals, birds and arthropods, some of which can be vectors of disease. The eastern side of the city has the largest population in Sã o Paulo and twenty-four municipal parks. The aim of this study was to investigate Culicidae fauna in two parks on this side of the city and to determine which of the Culicidae species identified have the potential to act as bioindicators and vectors of human pathogens. Culicidae were collected monthly between March 2011 and February 2012 in Carmo Park and Chico Mendes Park with battery-powered aspirators, Shannon traps and CDC traps for adult mosquitoes, and larval dippers and suction samplers for immature mosquitoes. To confirm sample sufficiency, the EstimateS program was used to plot sample-based species accumulation curves and estimate total richness by the Jackknife 1 method. In all, 1,092 culicids from nine genera (Aedes, Anopheles, Coquillettidia, Culex, Limatus, Mansonia, Trichoprosopon, Toxorhynchites and Uranotaenia) and nineteen taxonomic units were collected in Carmo Park. Coquillettidia venezuelensis (Theobald 1912), Aedes scapularis (Rondani 1848) and Culex (Culex) spp. Linnaeus 1758 were the most abundant adults, and Culex (Melanoconion) spp. Theobald 1903 and Anopheles strodei Root 1926 the most abundant immature mosquitoes. In Chico Mendes Park 4,487 mosquitoes in six genera and eighteen taxonomic units were collected. Culex (Cux.) spp. and Ae. scapularis were the most abundant adults, and Ae. albopictus (Skuse 1984) the most abundant immature mosquitoes. The species accumulation curves in both parks were close to the asymptote, and the total richness estimate was close to the observed richness. Some culicid taxons are bioindicators of environmental conditions in the areas they inhabit. It is important to monitor native fauna in municipal parks in Sã o Paulo as various species in this study were found to have vector competence and capacity to transmit pathogens, such as arboviruses. Keywords: Diversity, culicids, mosquitoes, municipal parks.PAULA, M.B., FERNANDES, A., MEDEIROS-SOUSA, A.R., CERETTI-JUNIOR, W., CHRISTE, R.O., STROEBEL, R., PEDROSA, L., ALMEIDA, R., CARVALHO, G.C., PEREIRA, U., JACINTHO, M., NATAL, D., MARRELLI, M.T.

Diversity patterns of hematophagous insects in Atlantic forest fragments and human-modified areas of southern Bahia, Brazil

“…Culicids are of interest not only from an epidemiological perspective, an aspect that has been amply discussed in the literature, but also because some taxa may be used as bioindicators of environmental health. The usefulness of mosquitoes as bioindicators is readily apparent if one assesses the extent of change that has occurred in a particular region and, at the same time, observes the increase or decrease or disappearance of a particular taxon (Paula et al 2015). Although we did not study the demography of mosquito species, we compared the richness and abundance of taxa across sites with different management histories.…”

“…The richness of culicids and the high abundance of the Sabethini tribe suggests that sites with both fragments of Atlantic Forest and cacao agroforestry systems (capable of maintaining characteristics of sylvatic environments) support biodiversity better than highly disturbed environments. Despite the fact that Sabethini tribe mosquitoes are found in areas of old‐growth or secondary‐growth forest with no or little human alteration (Paula et al 2015), some species from this tribe, such as Li. durhami , are associated with areas inhabited by humans because eggs and larvae of this species are frequently found in artificial breeding sites such as plastic bottles (Guimarães and Arlé 1984).…”

“…In Brazil, anophelines are generally common in rural and wild environments, but they are rare in urban areas. This is likely due to species requirements for special environmental conditions, such as bromeliads as breeding sites (Pittendrigh 1950, Guimarães et al 1985, Cardoso et al 2012, Paula et al 2015). The relationship between anophelines and the presence of favorable human‐made habitats or habitats that keep bromeliads and water storage containers may contribute to the maintenance of the population of these species in all study sites.…”

“…Understanding the spatial and temporal variation in abundance and diversity of culicid mosquitoes, as well as the role of climate in shaping this variation, is important to assess disease risks in natural environments (Pinto et al 2009). Furthermore, the condition of culicid populations can be used as a bioindicator for environmental health assessments (Montes 2005, Paula et al 2015).…”

Estudo da fauna de mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) com simultânea investigação de infecção natural por Flavivirus em duas Unidades de Conservação da Mata Atlântica, Estado de São Paulo

“…Aegypti (transmissor do vírus da febre amarela silvestre, na África e urbana nas Américas, dos quatro sorotipos do vírus da dengue), Ae. albopictus (vetor potencial dos quatro sorotipos do vírus da dengue, Chikungunya e Zika na América), Haemagogus leucocelaenus (vetor do vírus da febre amarela silvestre na América), dentre outras (URBINATTI et al, 2001;MONTES, 2005;RIBEIRO et al, 2012;DUARTE et al, 2013;MEDEIROS-DE-SOUSA, 2013, 2015PAULA et al, 2015;CARVALHO et al, 2014CARVALHO et al, , 2017CERETTI-JÚNIOR et al, 2015; MORAIS e NATAL, 2017; HEINISCH, 2019). Embora a fauna de culicídeos que circulam no município de São Paulo sejam mais conhecidas atualmente, ainda são escassas as informações a respeito da fauna de mosquitos presentes em Unidades de Conservação como a APA Capivari-Monos e o Parque Estadual da Cantareira, inseridos na região metropolinana de São Paulo.…”