Diversity of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Bom Retiro Private Natural Heritage Reserve, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

Abstract

This study registers the diversity of Culicidae in the Bom Retiro Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPNBR), Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, based on the collection of the immature stages in natural and artificial larval habitats. Larvae and pupae were collected monthly at two sites of the RPPNBR from May 2014 to July 2015 using dippers and aquatic pipettes. The diversity of the mosquito community was described using the Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H'), as well as diversity, richness, and dominance of species found in different larval habitats (lake, bamboos, bromeliads, and artificial vessels). The Mann-Whitney test was used to calculate differences between the two natural and artificial habitats. Overall, 15,659 specimens belonging to 25 species, ten genera, and two subfamilies were collected. The most abundant species collected at sites that were reforested recently were Culex pleuristriatus Theobald, 1903, Limatus durhamii (Theobald, 1901), Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1895), Culex neglectus (Lutz, 1904), and Culex retrosus (Lane & Whitman, 1951). In a forest preserved site, the most abundant species were Cx. neglectus, Culex iridescens (Lutz, 1905), Sabethes identicus (Dyar & Knab, 1907), Wyeomyia arthrostigma (Lutz, 1905), and Li. durhamii. With respect to larval habitats, 0.1% of the specimens were collected along the edge of a lake, 5.5% in bamboos, 35.9% in bromeliads, and 58.4% in artificial containers. Only 5.5% of the specimens were collected in the forest preserved site, with the remaining samples from the site with altered vegetation. A greater species richness and diversity were found in forest-altered sites compared to the forest preserved site. Several species were collected in the water accumulated in the nylon lids of plastic water tanks. Such vessels can promote an increase in mosquito population density in the environment surrounding the study area.

Keywords: Atlantic Forest; abundance; distribution; immature; vector ecology.