Fauna de Culicoides Latreille: estudo bioecológico, importância epidemiológica e estratégia de controle

Abstract

The Culicoides Latreille, 1809, nematocera diptera of the Ceratopogonidae family, constitute a group of insects widely distributed throughout the world. ciruses, protozoa and filarias, which are transmitted only by the female, which is hematophagous. In Brazil, they known as maruim, mosquito-pólvora and mosquito-do-mangue, being frequent in coastal areas, including the coastal areas of Maranhão. The inhabitants of rural villages around the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (PNLM), an important tourist center on the coast of Maranhão, have resented the presence of these dipterans. Their presence in the rural peridomestic has been attributed to changes in natural habitats, where these insects occur and to the favorable environmental conditions established in the backyards of houses, especially with the raising of domestic animals. In view of the above, this dissertation was developed with the purpose of studying i) the bioecology and epidemiological importance of biting midges; and ii) aspects inherent to its control in anthropic environments, based on environmental management. The study were developed in two steps: in the first stage, designated Chapter I, a review was carried out in the specialized literature on biting midges, including knowledge on classification, biogeography, morphology, bioecology, epidemiology, entomological surveillance, control and studies in the State of Maranhão. In the second, designated Chapter II, an original research was carried out, which consisted of an entomological survey systematized in rural peridomiciles to verify the influence of the environmental management and the presence of domestic animals in the abundance of these dipterans, understanding how management the cleaning of the backyards (peridomiciles). To obtain data of this second stage were selected at random 15 locations established in the tourism routes around Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. The biting midges were capture in 112 rural homes, with luminous CDC traps installed in the peridomiciles. Four treatments was considered in the study: 1) peridomestic animals with presence of domestic and unmanaged animals (dirty); 2) peridomestic animals with domestic animals and with handling (clean); 3) peridomestic animals without domestic animals and with management; 4) peridomestic animals without animals and without management. The first two treatments showed higher abundance (784; 577) and richness (13; 12) of biting midges species, respectively. The analysis of the generalized linear models showed that the presence of domestic animals interferes with abundance, which can increase the amount of Culicoides in the peridomiciles by about four times. However, according to the same model, the presence of animal showed no influence on the richness, although it increases about 2 times the amount of species. The test showed that the environmental management was not associated to the abundance and richness of the biting midges, however, it was observed that the abundance of Culicoides decreased in the residences with management. In conclusion, a rich and abundant Culicoides fauna found in the studied area, associated, mainly, with the presence of domestic animals in the peridomiciles. Thus, the result of this research should taken into account in the implementation of control measures of these insects in the municipality of Barreirinhas. It should be note that although cleanliness has not shown interference with the abundance of Culicoides sanitation could not be rule out.