Seasonality and prevalence rates of microsporidia in Simulium pertinax (Diptera: Simuliidae) larvae in the region of Serra dos Órgãos, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Description of microsporidia in simulids: molecular and morphological characterization of microsporidia in the larvae of Simulium pertinax Kollar (Diptera: Simuliidae)

“…from Caraguatatuba, the spore measurement was 4.5μm in length x 3.5μm in width, similar to that found by Araújo-Coutinho 6 for Amblyospora spp. infecting S. pertinax in the State of Rio de Janeiro.…”

“…Microsporidia are the most common black fl y pathogens, although the species' diversity, seasonal occurrence and transmission mechanisms remain poorly understood 6,7 . Infections caused by this agent are often chronic and non-lethal, but they can cause sub-lethal host effects, such as reduced fecundity, decreased life span and general loss of vigor 8 .…”

Diversity and microdistribution of black fly (Diptera: Simuliidae) assemblages in the tropical savanna streams of the Brazilian cerrado

“…Black fly larvae were sampled from the Tocantins River and three tributaries, located in the Brazilian savanna (state of Tocantins, Brazil) Key words: Neotropical Region -microhabitat associations -diversity -species richness -water current range Hamada et al (2002) pointed out the relative scarcity of ecological studies on the black fly fauna of the Neotropical Region. In addition to this limited number of studies, most of the literature on this subject is restricted to a few geographical areas; in the specific case of Brazil, a large number of biomes lack ecological studies on their black fly fauna (Figueiró & Gil-Azevedo 2010), as most of the studies concentrate on the central Amazon (e.g., Hamada et al 2002), southeastern (e.g., Araújo-Coutinho et al 2004, Figueiró et al 2006, Pepinelli et al 2005) and southern (Strieder 2004, Santos et al 2010 Mata Atlântica biomes. Another issue raised in Hamada et al (2002) is that most of the studies on Neotropical black flies approach the ecology of the individual species population (e.g., Hamada & McCreadie 1999), rather than the whole black fly community.…”

Influence of temperature on microsporidia infections in a natural population of Simulium pertinax Kollar, 1832 (Diptera; Simuliidae)

“…This reinforces the need for the evaluation of the influence of temperature on the Simuliidae (Diptera), especially in Brazil, where the studies that involve the hostparasite relationship approach only the seasonality and the determination of the occurrence of entomopathogens on larval populations (Araújo-Coutinho et al, 2004).…”

“…This study was carried out in a two non-consecutive year period with weekly samples (May 2001and May 2003to 2004 in the Andorinhas river, municipality of Magé, Rio de Janeiro state (22° 32' S and 43° 02' W), 88 m high, mean pluviosity between 1250 and 1500 mm a year. This river shows a wide insolation surface, with predominantly rocky substrate and it is a considerable high drainage river (Figures 1a, b).…”