Sazonalidade e uso de ambientes por espécies de Tabanidae (Diptera) na Amazônia Central, Brasil

Abstract

-Adults of Tabanidae may become serious pests wherever they occur due to their attack to humans and others animals. Tabanids were captured near ground, water surface and at 25 m high on primary forests and forest gaps of anthropogenic origin, to understand their abundance, seasonality, diversity and similarity on such environments. Collections were carried out in the Base II of the War Instruction Center in the Jungle (CIGS) located at 54 km from Manaus municipality, Amazonas state. Two Malaise fl ight interception traps and four attraction traps (two suspended at 25 m high and two above the water surface of igarapé) were installed in forest gap and primary forest, areas for 10 consecutive days, during 15 months. A total of 2,643 specimens of 66 species were captured. Diachlorini (35 species /11 genera) was the most abundant tribe, followed by Tabanini (19 species /three genera), Chrysopsini (seven species /one genus) and Scionini (fi ve species /two genera). Seventeen species were captured only in the primary forest, 11 in the anthropic clearing, and 38 species were common to both environments. The most abundant species were Phorcotabanus cinereus (Wiedemann), Tabanus occidentalis L, Chrysops laetus Fabricius and Tabanus angustifrons Macquart. The greatest richness was found in drier months (September/October) in both areas. The forest gap showed higher abundance of specimens (1,827) than the primary forest (816). Traps suspended above the water surface were the most effi cient (1,723 specimens) probably due to the dispersion of horsefl ies over small streams.

Seasonal patterns of horse fly richness and abundance in the Pampa biome of southern Brazil

“…In tropical areas of Brazil, there is a well‐defined rainy and dry seasonality. The highest occurrence of tabanids is likely to occur in central Amazonia, eastern Amazonia, and Pantanal, and they are most abundant between the months from July to December, which matches the hot and dry periods (Gorayeb , Barros and Foil, , Silva et al Barros , Oliveira et al Ferreira‐Keppler et al The pattern is similar to that found in Pampa, where the richness and abundance of horse flies were higher between September and February, when temperatures are higher and the RH is lower than during the rest of the year. Even in Europe, the number of horse fly species of begins to increase in in the second half of May (spring in the northern hemisphere) and decreases in the middle of September (late summer) (Chvala et al , Krčmar , , Hackenberger et al Altunsoy and Kiliç , Mikuška et al Baldacchino et al Herczeg et al ).…”

“…The species richness in the localities of the Pampa biome is lower than that found in the Pantanal biome (Barros and Foil , Barros ), Jau National Park (Henriques and Rafael , Henriques ), which is between the Amazon and Roraima in the western Amazon (Oliveira et al Ferreira‐Keppler et al however, the observed richness is very close to that which was observed in Tocantins in Cerrado biome (Lima et al This can be explained by the latitudinal gradient, productivity, geologic time, size, and type of sampling areas (Rosenzweig ); these variables provide a consistent set of hypotheses to explain the increased diversity of tabanids in the tropics compared to subtropical areas.…”

“…The pattern of pronounced seasonality for the Tabanidae fauna was expected and depends on the species, MT and RH, as well as the location in South America (Raymond , , Gorayeb , Barros and Foil , Barros , Oliveira et al Cardeñas et al 2009, Ferreira‐Keppler et al North America (Burnett and Hays ), Japão (Amano ), Oceania (Romo and Tylianakis ) and Europe (Chvala et al , Krčmar , , Hackenberger et al Altunsoy and Kiliç , Mikuška et al Herczeg et al ). In tropical areas of Brazil, there is a well‐defined rainy and dry seasonality.…”

“…The later appearance of tabanids in these regions is caused by the low temperature of the soil or late start of rains during spring months, which induces late pupation of larvae (Chvála et al Because of this, there are often seasonal fluctuations between different populations of tabanids during the year. In Brazil, horse flies are most abundant during the spring and summer, especially from November to December through the end of March (Ferreira‐Keppler et al …”

“…Numerous studies investigated the effects of meteorological factors on seasonal abundance of tabanids worldwide (Roberts , Leprince et al Strickler and Walker , McElligot and Lewis , Krčmar , , Barros , Hribar et al Oliveira et al Ferreira‐Keppler et al Van Hennekeler et al , Baldacchino et al Herczeg et al ) and these studies are very important from the standpoint of medical and veterinary parasitology, because some species participate in transmission of various diseases (Foil , Foil and Hogsette , Vazeille‐Falcoz et al Thomson and Connor ).…”