Flight Height Preference for Oviposition of Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Vectors of Sylvatic Yellow Fever Virus Near the Hydroelectric Reservoir of Simplício, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Jeronimo Alencar, Fernanda Morone, Cecília Ferreira De Mello, Nicolas Dégallier, Paulo Sérgio Lucio, Nicolau Maués Da Serra-Freire, Anthony Érico Guimarães
2013 Journal of medical entomology  
In this study, the oviposition behavior of mosquito species exhibiting acrodendrophilic habits was investigated. The study was conducted near the Simplṍcio Hydroelectic Reservoir (SHR) located on the border of the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Samples were collected using oviposition traps installed in forest vegetation cover between 1.70 and 4.30 m above ground level during the months of April, June, August, October, and December of 2011. Haemagogus janthinomys (Dyar),
more » ... agogus leucocelaenus (Dyar and Shannon), Aedes albopictus (Skuse), and Aedes terrens (Walker) specimens were present among the collected samples, the Þrst two of which being proven vectors of sylvatic yellow fever (SYF) in Brazil and the latter is a vector of dengue in mainland Asia. As the data set was zero-inßated, a speciÞc Poisson-based model was used for the statistical analysis. When all four species were considered in the model, only heights used for egg laying and months of sampling were explaining the distribution. However, grouping the species under the genera Haemagogus Williston and Aedes Meigen showed a signiÞcant preference for higher traps of the former. Considering the local working population of SHR is very large, ßuctuating, and potentially exposed to SYF, and that this virus occurs in almost all Brazilian states, monitoring of Culicidae in Brazil is essential for assessing the risk of transmission of this arbovirus.
doi:10.1603/me12120 pmid:23926776 fatcat:ngdh5pwannao5cf2ardovkioza