Mosquitos (diptera, culicidae) em área de caatinga degradada na região Seridó, Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

Abstract

In Rio Grande do Norte the latest studies on mosquito fauna have been carried out in protected areas in both morphoclimatic domains present in the state, the Atlantic Forest and Caatinga, these studies are limited in their geographical scope. The farm Areias, where this work was done, is located in the city of Currais Novos, RN, in the region of Seridó. On this region is predominantly Caatinga Hyperxerophilic Seridó, known by being driest vegetation of the state, in the process of desertification. During the rainy season, the caatinga can show habitats conducive to the proliferation of mosquitoes because the water accumulation is possible, allowing the development of mosquitoes with behavioral habits and several hematophagous. These factors associate with lack of knowledge of the insect fauna of mosquitoes in the bush, prompted this study. For the study, monthly mosquito, eggs and larvae collections were made through two procedures: the first with Shannon trap and the second with the egg trap during the period from march to may and august to october the years 2014 and 2015 in three intervals of time (17h-18h, 18h-19h and 19h-20h). They were collected and identified 2291 specimens, only the Shannon trap, eggs or larvae were not observed in ovitraps installed. The classification revealed 14 taxa: Anopheles argyritarsis; Anopheles braziliensis; Anopheles deaneorum; Anopheles marajoara; Aedes lepidus; Aedes scapularis; Aedes taeniorhynchus; Culex coronator; Culex (Cux.) spp.; Haemagogus Spegazzinii; Mansonia indubitans; Mansonia wilsoni; Psorophora ferox and Uranotaenia lowii. In addition to the occurrence of species in the Rio Grande do Norte state ecological relationships of mosquitoes are shown in Caatinga. This study recorded the first time in the state the presence of species Culex (Cux.) coronator (Group) and Anopheles (Nys.) deaneorum (identification male genitaly). It is worth noting also that the presence of some species in rural areas may have some importance when considering insects with vectorial capacity in areas close to the host, which may have an impact on public health.