When and what time? On the seasonal and daily patterns of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in an Atlantic Forest remnant from Southern Brazil

Abstract

Surveys to discover the habitats of mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) are useful for understanding their distribution, seasonality activity patterns, ecological interactions and the risk they pose for disease transmission. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a 1 year survey of mosquito species and analysed the seasonality and daily rhythms of four species found in a forest fragment from Southern Brazil. Collections were performed during the morning, afternoon, and evening, from October 2012 to September 2013. The most abundant species were Psorophora ferox, Aedes crinifer and Coquillettidia venezuelensis. Ae. crinifer was collected during all seasons, exhibiting diurnal and nocturnal activity in all seasons, except summer. Cq. venezuelensis was collected only in spring and summer and was primarily nocturnal. Haemagogus leucocelaenus, which transmits the Yellow Fever virus, was collected in spring, summer, and autumn; this species was primarily diurnal and was more active in the afternoon. Ps. ferox was collected in spring, summer and autumn and was primarily diurnal. Despite the low abundance of mosquito species at our study site, we consider that the knowledge about Culicidae fauna was improved, mainly regarding their biology. We provide new data about mosquito species in a specific area in Southern Brazil, which was once known to record deaths of non-human primates, a phenomenon that may be directly related to the presence of wild yellow fever vector mosquitoes.

Variación temporal de la abundancia de mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) en el Bosque Atlántico subtropical de Brasil

“…However, the peaks occurred at different times, and even the distribution of abundance during the year was different for each species. The temporal variation in abundance patterns found here also differed from those found for most of these species in other studies (Forattini et al 1995;Maciá 1997;Loetti et al 2007;Ferreira-de-Freitas et al 2016;Orlandin et al 2017;Santos et al 2019Santos et al , 2020. However, when we look at some such species, their associations with higher-temperature periods of the year become evident.…”

“…Several studies point to an affinity of this species with milder periods of the year, but at different times (Maciá 1997;Loetti et al 2007;Ferreira-de-Freitas et al 2016;Orlandin et al 2017). This species may actually be characteristic of environments with milder climate, since it was collected abundantly in several studies conducted in Southern Brazil and Argentina (Maciá 1997;Loetti et al 2007;Ferreira-de-Freitas et al 2016;Santos et al 2020). On the other hand, the abundance of this species decreases in environments with higher annual average temperatures (Medeiros-Sousa et al 2013;Carvalho et al 2014).…”

“…[Palabras clave: análisis circular, cambio climático, factores abióticos] Recibido: 17 de Febrero de 2021 Aceptado: 11 de Junio de 2021 * orlandinelton@gmail.com Editor asociado: Alejandro Farji-Brener I����������� A better understanding of the temporal variation in abundance patterns of vector or potential vector species, as well as the abiotic factors associated with these patterns, enables the creation of strategic measures aimed at preventing diseases spread by these organisms (Deichmeister and Telang 2011;Zittra et al 2017). Although there are many studies that suggest the period of occurrence of mosquito species, most of them perform such inferences based only on the months of greater abundance (Silva and Lozovei 1998;Loetti et al 2007;Ferreira-de-Freitas et al 2016;Santos et al 2019Santos et al , 2020, while others focus only on introduced species such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Reinhold et al 2018).…”

Habitat use by Neotropical mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae): vegetation structure and edge effects

“…Thus, the present study brings additional contributions to the biology of the species collected in the region. Despite a short sampling period at each point, we found considerable abundance and species richness when compared with studies that used similar methodologies (Ferreira‐de‐Freitas et al 2017; Orlandin et al 2017; Santos et al 2019, 2020).…”

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in oviposition traps set in forest fragments of a semideciduous seasonal forest, Atlantic Forest domain, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…The Atlantic Forest Domain, which involves different vegetation types, has a high diversity of mosquito species. Its topographic complexity and spatial variability, with the formation of different microclimates, allows mosquitoes to find habitats capable of sustaining them, promoting their proliferation (Pereira et al 2006;Cardoso et al 2011;Santos et al 2020).…”