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BIBTEX RIS

Ecology of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in areas of Serra do Mar State Park, State of São Paulo, Brazil. III - daily biting rhythms and lunar cycle influence

2000; Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde; Volume: 95; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s0074-02762000000600002

1678-8060

Anthony Érico Guimarães, Carla Gentile, Catarina Macedo Lopes, Rubens Pinto de Mello,

Insect behavior and control techniques

The ecology of mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) was studied in areas of the Serra do Mar State Park, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The influence of the lunar cycle and the daily biting rhythms of mosquito populations were analyzed. Systematized biweekly human bait collections were made in a silvatic environment for 24 consecutive months (January 1991 to December 1992). A total of 20,591 specimens of adult mosquitoes belonging to 55 species were collected from 545 catches. Sabethini species were captured exclusively during daylight periods, with the exception of Trichoprosopon digitatum, while members of Anophelinae predominated during nocturnal hours. Members of the subfamily Culicinae that were collected primary during nocturnal periods included Culex nigripalpus, Coquillettidia chrysonotum and Cq. venezuelensis while daytime catches included Psorophora ferox and Ps. albipes. Others members of culicines mosquitoes that were collected during both day and night included: Aedes serratus, Ae. scapularis and Ae. fulvus. Lunar cycles did not appear to influence the daily biting rhythms of most mosquito species in the area, but larger numbers of mosquitoes were collected during the new moon. Ae. scapularis were captured mainly during the full moon.