Updating Ecological and Behavioral Aspects of the Sandfly Fauna in the Vale do Ribeira Region, São Paulo State, Brazil

Some ecological parameters and the distribution of vectors in the municipality of Eldorado, Vale do Ribeira Region, São Paulo, were studied. Entomological surveys were carried out from September 2019 to March 2021. It was observed that a few ecological parameters, including richness, abundance, diversity, and equitability, were typical of a modified environment, where artificial ecotopes maintain the presence of sandflies throughout the year. A total of 11,668 sandflies were captured. The presence of five taxa were observed in Eldorado, with low diversity and high dominance of Nyssomyia intermedia next to Ny. neivai, which are sympatric species. The results presented reinforce the importance of these species in anthropized areas in the transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) agents and the need for entomological monitoring. Psathyromyia pascalei was encountered for the first time in the municipality, expanding the known area of distribution of this species in a modified environment

Evaluation of Methods for Collecting Mosquitoes (Culicidae: Diptera) in Canopy and Ground Strata in the Brazilian Savanna

The hand-net is the standard method for capturing mosquitoes with sylvatic diurnal activity in disease outbreaks in Brazil. However, occupational risks and biases related to the collectors’ abilities and attractiveness are important limitations. In this study, we compared hand-nets with automatic traps (CDC) associated to CO2 and BG-Lure® in the Vassununga State Park, a Brazilian Savanna protection area. The collections carried out over 27 days on the ground and the forest canopy. A total of 1555 mosquitoes were obtained in 20 taxa. The diversity index ranged between 1.12 and 1.79 and the dominance index from 0.22 to 0.40. The dominant species on the ground was Aedes scapularis (46.0%), and in the canopy, Hg. janthinomys/capricornii (31.9%). Haemagogus leucocelaenus was rare (n = 2). The hand-net resulted in the greatest diversity and abundance of species in both strata, followed by the traps associated with CO2. A low degree of similarity was observed between the hand-net on the ground compared to the other capture methods. The use of BG-Lure® alone resulted in a low number of specimens. In conclusion, the hand-net is still the method of choice for collecting arbovirus vectors in the diurnal period, especially yellow fever vectors

Evaluation of Methods to Collect Diurnal Culicidae (Diptera) at Canopy and Ground Strata, in the Atlantic Forest Biome

Hand-held insect nets are the standard method for capturing vector mosquitoes of sylvatic arboviruses; however, occupational risks and biases due to individual skill and attractiveness are important limitations. The use of chemical attractants and automatic traps could be an alternative to resolve these limitations. This study compares the yields achieved using nets with those employing electrical traps with CO2 and BG-Lure®, near the ground and in the canopy strata (6.0 and 8.0 m high). The study was conducted at the Cantareira State Park, which is in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome. In the 18 collections performed, 3570 specimens of 52 taxa were obtained. The most frequent species captured near the ground were Wyeomyia confusa and Limatus durhamii, whereas Sabethes albiprivus, Sabethes purpureus, and Haemagogus leucocelaenus were the most frequent in the canopy. The nets resulted in greater species richness and abundance, followed by the trap employing CO2. The combination of CO2 traps with BG-Lure® did not improve performance. The use of BG-Lure® alone resulted in low abundance and a low number of species. Our results demonstrate that the use of traps with CO2 can be complementary to collections with nets; however, for species of epidemiological interest such as those of the genera Haemagogus and Sabethes, especially in the canopy, the net remains the method of choice

Utilização de ferramentas de análise espacial na vigilância epidemiológica de leishmaniose visceral americana - Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brasil, 1998-1999

O controle da Leishmaniose Visceral Americana (LVA) está fundamentado no combate ao vetor e na eliminação do reservatório doméstico da área de foco - 200 metros em torno do caso humano ou canino. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo discutir a utilização de técnicas de análise espacial na vigilância epidemiológica da LVA no Município de Araçatuba, São Paulo, buscando estabelecer um modelo de vigilância epidemiológica em base territorial, redirecionando as estratégias de controle atualmente adotadas. Verificou-se que a transmissão da LVA não foi homogênea no município: a transmissão humana ocorreu nas áreas com maiores taxas de prevalência canina. A dispersão do vetor parece restrita a poucos domicílios, embora não tenha sido possível estabelecer um perfil da densidade vetorial. Visando estudar a distribuição do vetor e variáveis correlacionadas está sendo realizado estudo de campo por amostragem de domicílios, que permitirá o desenvolvimento de novas ferramentas de análise espacial e, possivelmente, permitirá redefinir as propostas de controle da endemia em ambiente urbano