Revision of the Strodei Subgroup of Nyssorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae), with descriptions of 2 new species.

Nyssorhynchus (Nyssorhynchus) ibiapabaensis (Sant'Ana & Sallum n. sp.) and Ny. (Nys.) untii (Sant'Ana & Sallum n. sp.) are new species of the Arthuri Complex of the Strodei Subgroup. The new species are described and validated using morphological characters of the male, female, and immature stages. The description of the male, female, fourth-instar larva and pupa of Ny. arthuri (Unti, 1941) and Ny. albertoi (Unti, 1941) are provided for the first time. To avoid nomenclature instability, neotypes are designated for both species. All life stages of Ny. strodei (Root, 1926) employing specimens collected in the Agua Limpa District, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil are redescribed.

Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) striatus, a new species of the Strodei Subgroup (Diptera, Culicidae)

ABSTRACT A new species of the genus Anopheles Meigen (Diptera: Culicidae), Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) striatus n. sp., preliminary designated as Anopheles CP Form, from Brazil, is here validated and described using morphological characteristics of the egg, fourth-instar larva, pupa, female and male genitalia. The species is morphologically more similar to species of the Strodei Subgroup of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) than to any other species of the subgenus Nyssorhynchus Blanchard. However, adult female that can be misidentified with Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) galvaoi Causey, Deane & Deane if the identification is mainly based on the ratio of dark and white scales of the hindtarsomere 2. In addition, the characterization of the new species includes aspects of its bionomics, and geographical distribution. The new species is known from Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais and Paraná states, in Brazil. Diagnostic characters for the identification of the species are provided.

Phylogeny of Anophelinae using mitochondrial protein coding genes.

Malaria is a vector-borne disease that is a great burden on the poorest and most marginalized communities of the tropical and subtropical world. Approximately 41 species of Anopheline mosquitoes can effectively spread species of Plasmodium parasites that cause human malaria. Proposing a natural classification for the subfamily Anophelinae has been a continuous effort, addressed using both morphology and DNA sequence data. The monophyly of the genus Anopheles, and phylogenetic placement of the genus Bironella, subgenera Kerteszia, Lophopodomyia and Stethomyia within the subfamily Anophelinae, remain in question. To understand the classification of Anophelinae, we inferred the phylogeny of all three genera (Anopheles, Bironella, Chagasia) and major subgenera by analysing the amino acid sequences of the 13 protein coding genes of 150 newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes of Anophelinae and 18 newly sequenced Culex species as outgroup taxa, supplemented with 23 mitogenomes from GenBank. Our analyses generally place genus Bironella within the genus Anopheles, which implies that the latter as it is currently defined is not monophyletic. With some inconsistencies, Bironella was placed within the major clade that includes Anopheles, Cellia, Kerteszia, Lophopodomyia, Nyssorhynchus and Stethomyia, which were found to be monophyletic groups within Anophelinae. Our findings provided robust evidence for elevating the monophyletic groupings Kerteszia, Lophopodomyia, Nyssorhynchus and Stethomyia to genus level; genus Anopheles to include subgenera Anopheles, Baimaia, Cellia and Christya; Anopheles parvus to be placed into a new genus; Nyssorhynchus to be elevated to genus level; the genus Nyssorhynchus to include subgenera Myzorhynchella and Nyssorhynchus; Anopheles atacamensis and Anopheles pictipennis to be transferred from subgenus Nyssorhynchus to subgenus Myzorhynchella; and subgenus Nyssorhynchus to encompass the remaining species of Argyritarsis and Albimanus Sections.

Malaria vectors in South America: current and future scenarios.

BACKGROUND: Malaria remains a significant public health issue in South America. Future climate change may influence the distribution of the disease, which is dependent on the distribution of those Anopheles mosquitoes competent to transmit Plasmodium falciparum. Herein, predictive niche models of the habitat suitability for P. falciparum, the current primary vector Anopheles darlingi and nine other known and/or potential vector species of the Neotropical Albitarsis Complex, were used to document the current situation and project future scenarios under climate changes in South America in 2070. METHODS: To build each ecological niche model, we employed topography, climate and biome, and the currently defined distribution of P. falciparum, An. darlingi and nine species comprising the Albitarsis Complex in South America. Current and future (i.e., 2070) distributions were forecast by projecting the fitted ecological niche model onto the current environmental situation and two scenarios of simulated climate change. Statistical analyses were performed between the parasite and each vector in both the present and future scenarios to address potential vector roles in the dynamics of malaria transmission. RESULTS: Current distributions of malaria vector species were associated with that of P. falciparum, confirming their role in transmission, especially An. darlingi, An. marajoara and An. deaneorum. Projected climate changes included higher temperatures, lower water availability and biome modifications. Regardless of future scenarios considered, the geographic distribution of P. falciparum was exacerbated in 2070 South America, with the distribution of the pathogen covering 35-46% of the continent. As the current primary vector An. darlingi showed low tolerance for drier environments, the projected climate change would significantly reduce suitable habitat, impacting both its distribution and abundance. Conversely, climate generalist members of the Albitarsis Complex showed significant spatial and temporal expansion potential in 2070, and we conclude these species will become more important in the dynamics of malaria transmission in South America. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that climate and landscape effects will elevate the importance of members of the Albitarsis Complex in malaria transmission in South America in 2070, highlighting the need for further studies addressing the bionomics, ecology and behaviours of the species comprising the Albitarsis Complex.

Effectiveness of Mosquito Magnet® trap in rural areas in the southeastern tropical Atlantic Forest.

Traps are widely employed for sampling and monitoring mosquito populations for surveillance, ecological and fauna studies. Considering the importance of assessing other technologies for sampling mosquitoes, we addressed the effectiveness of Mosquito Magnet® Independence (MMI) in comparison with those of the CDC trap with CO2 and Lurex3® (CDC-A) and the CDC light trap (CDC-LT). Field collections were performed in a rural area within the Atlantic Forest biome, southeastern state of São Paulo, Brazil. The MMI sampled 53.84% of the total number of mosquitoes, the CDC-A (26.43%) and CDC-LT (19.73%). Results of the Pearson chi-squared test (χ2) showed a positive association between CDC-LT and species of Culicini and Uranotaeniini tribes. Additionally, our results suggested a positive association between CDC-A and representatives of the Culicini and Aedini tribes, whereas the MMI was positively associated with the Mansoniini and Sabethini as well as with Anophelinae species. The MMI sampled a greater proportion (78.27%) of individuals of Anopheles than either the CDC-LT (0.82%) or the CDC-A traps (20.91%). Results of the present study showed that MMI performed better than CDC-LT or CDC-A in sampling mosquitoes in large numbers, medically important species and assessing diversity parameters in rural southeastern Atlantic Forest.

Comparação de três armadilhas automáticas para coleta de mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) em áreas rurais no bioma de Mata Atlântica, sudeste do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil / Comparison of three automatic traps for collecting mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) in rural areas in the Atlantic Forest biome, southeastern São Paulo State, Brazil

Introdução: Armadilhas automáticas entomológicas são ferramentas importantes para a vigilância e controle de espécies de mosquitos vetoras. Vários estudos mostraram que a armadilha CDC com CO2 + Lurex® e a CDC luminosa são efetivas para a amostragem de culicídeos. A Mosquito Magnet® foi comparada com diferentes métodos de coletas, incluindo a isca humana, para amostragem de mosquitos vetores. Como resultado, a armadilha tem demonstrado boa capacidade de amostragem. No presente estudo, a eficácia da Mosquito Magnet® Independence foi comparada com as armadilhas CDC luminosa e a CDC com atrativos, mas sem luz. As coletas foram realizadas em áreas rurais no sudeste do bioma de Mata Atlântica. Objetivo: Comparar a eficácia da armadilha Mosquito Magnet® Independence + Lurex3® com a da CDC luminosa e da CDC com CO2 + Lurex3®. Métodos: As armadilhas foram instaladas em três locais diferentes durante três dias consecutivos em áreas rurais do município de Iguape, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, de janeiro a junho de 2012. As armadilhas foram colocadas diariamente às 6h00 pm (ou 7h00 pm, durante os dias de horário de verão) e removidas às 6h00 am (ou 7h00 horas durante os dias de horário de verão). Para avaliar a eficácia das armadilhas para coleta de culicídeos, utilizamos os perfis de diversidade da Rényi, além de outros índices de diversidade, ou seja, riqueza, abundância, dominância, equabilidade e similaridade. Resultados: A armadilha Mosquito Magnet® coletou 53,84 por cento do total (19.016 indivíduos) de mosquitos obtidos com as três armadilhas. Por outro lado, a CDC luminosa obteve os maiores índices de diversidade de Margalef e Shannon. O índice de Pielou mostrou que as espécies se distribuem de maneira mais uniforme quando empregado o uso da armadilha CDC com atrativos. No entanto, a Mosquito Magnet® obteve o maior índice de dominância. O teste de Kruskal-Wallis mostrou diferença significativa apenas para os índices de riqueza observados na série de Rényi. O teste de Bonferroni apontou que apenas a armadilha Mosquito Magnet® apresentou diferença significativa em relação à CDC luminosa (p=6e-05). Os índices de similaridade apontaram maiores semelhanças entre as espécies coletadas pelas armadilhas Mosquito Magnet® e CDC com atrativos. Conclusões: O presente estudo mostrou que é possível coletar número elevado de espécimes de culicídeos com a Mosquito Magnet® Independence em áreas rurais no sudeste de São Paulo. Apesar da armadilha CDC não coletar uma grande abundância de culicídeos é considerado um método de coleta apropriado e indicado para os serviços de saúde, devido a sua funcionalidade e facilidade de transporte. No entanto, os resultados do presente estudo mostraram que a Mosquito Magnet® é mais eficaz do que a CDC luminosa e CDC com CO2 + Lurex3® para as atividades de vigilância entomológica

Introduction: Automatic entomological traps are important tools for surveillance and control of mosquito vector species. Several studies showed both CDC trap with CO2 plus Lurex3® and CDC light trap to be effective for sampling mosquito species. The Mosquito Magnet® trap was compared with different collecting methods, including human landing, for sampling mosquito vectors. As a result, the former trap was demonstrated to have good sampling capacity. In the present study, efficacy of the Mosquito Magnet® Independence was compared with those of CDC light trap and CDC trap with CO2 plus Lurex3®, but no light. Collections were carried out in rural areas within the southeast Atlantic Forest biome. Objective: to compare the efficacy of a Mosquito Magnet® Independence plus Lurex3® with a CDC light trap and CDC trap with CO2 plus Lurex3®. Methods: Traps were installed in three different locations during three consecutive days in rural areas of the Iguape municipality, São Paulo state, Brazil. The traps were placed daily at 6h00 pm (or 7h00 pm during the summer day light savings) and removed at 6h00 am (or 7h00 am during the summer day light savings). To assess efficacy of the traps for collecting mosquito species, we employed the Rényis diversity profiles, in addition to other diversity indexes, i.e., richness, abundance, dominance, evenness, and similarity. Results: The Mosquito Magnet® trap collected 53.84 per cent of the total number (19,016 individuals) of mosquitoes obtained with all three traps. On the other hand, the CDC trap obtained the highest diversity indexes of Margalef and Shannon. The evenness index showed that species were distributed more evenly when using the CDC trap with CO2 and Lurex3®. However, the Mosquito Magnet® had the highest dominance index. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant difference in the indexes of richness observed in the Rényi profile index. The Bonferroni test demonstrated that only the Mosquito Magnet® trap has a significant difference relative to the CDC light trap (p = 6e-05). The similarity index showed more resemblance between species collected by Mosquito Magnet® Independence and CDC trap with CO2 and Lurex3®. Conclusions: The present study shows that it is possible to collect large numbers of specimen with the Mosquito Magnet® Independence trap in rural areas in southeastern São Paulo State. In spite of the fact that the CDC trap did not abundantly collect mosquitos, it is considered an appropriate collecting method used by health service organizations because of its practicality and ease of transportation. However, results of the present study showed that the Mosquito Magnet® Independence is more effective than both CDC light trap and CDC with CO2 and Lurex3® for entomological surveillance