Revision of the Educator Group of Culex (Melanoconion) (Diptera, Culicidae).

The Educator Group of the Melanoconion Section of Culex (Melanoconion) (Diptera, Culicidae) is reviewed. Currently, the group includes the following valid species: Culex (Melanoconion) aphyllusTalaga, 2020, Culex (Melanoconion) cristovaoi Duret, 1968, Culex (Melanoconion) educatorDyar & Knab, 1906, Culex (Melanoconion) eknomiosForattini & Sallum, 1992, Culex (Melanoconion) inadmirabilisDyar, 1928, Culex (Melanoconion) rachoui Duret, 1968, Culex (Melanoconion) theobaldi (Lutz), 1904, Culex (Melanoconion) vaxusDyar, 1920, Culex (Melanoconion) angularis Sá & Sallum n. sp., Culex (Melanoconion) spiniformis Sá & Hutchings n. sp., Culex (Melanoconion) longistriatus Sá & Hutchings n. sp., Culex (Melanoconion) anelesDyar & Ludlow, 1922, Culex (Melanoconion) apeteticus Howard, Dyar & Ludlow, 1913, and Culex (Melanoconion) bibulusDyar, 1920. The last three species were resurrected from synonymy of either Cx. educator or Cx. vaxus. Descriptions, differential diagnoses, bionomics, and geographical data are provided for each species when available.

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) From the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon: Liberdade and Gregório Rivers.

The mosquito community from remote locations toward the southern border of the Brazilian State of Amazonas, in four localities along the Liberdade and Gregório Rivers, was sampled using CDC and Malaise traps, complemented with net sweeping and immature collections. During May 2011, 190 collections yielded 13,012 mosquitoes, from 15 genera and 112 different species, together with 10 morphospecies, which may represent new undescribed taxa. Among the species collected, there are two new geographical distribution records for the State of Amazonas. Culex, the most abundant genus, also had the highest number of species. Both Aedes and Uranotaenia had the second highest number of species, although they were the second and seventh most abundant, respectively. The most abundant species were Aedes (Ochlerotatus) fulvus (Wiedemann), Aedes (Ochlerotatus) nubilus (Theobald), Culex (Culex) mollis Dyar & Knab, Nyssorhynchus (Nyssorhynchus) oswaldoi sensu lato, Culex (Melanoconion) pedroi Sirivanakarn & Belkin, and Culex (Melanoconion) gnomatos Sallum, Hutchings & Ferreira. The epidemiological implications of mosquito species are discussed and compared with other mosquito inventories from the Amazon region. These results represent the first standardized mosquito inventories of the Liberdade and Gregório Rivers, with the identification of 112 species and 10 morphospecies, within the municipalities of Ipixuna and Eirunepé, from which we have only few records in the published literature.

Revision of the Atratus Group of Culex (Melanoconion) (Diptera: Culicidae).

BACKGROUND: Despite the importance of some species of Culex (Melanoconion) (Diptera: Culicidae) as vectors of several arboviruses that cause diseases in humans and other animals, there are few taxonomic studies focusing on species of the subgenus, especially providing morphological keys for species identification. RESULTS: Thirteen species of the Atratus Group of Culex (Melanoconion) were reviewed, five new species are described, and two taxonomic changes are proposed: Cx. (Mel.) exedrus Root, 1927 and Cx. (Mel.) loturus Dyar, 1925 are resurrected from synonymy with Cx. (Mel.) dunni Dyar, 1918 and Cx. (Mel.) zeteki Dyar, 1918, respectively. The Atratus Group now includes fourteen species: Cx. (Mel.) atratus Theobald, 1901; Cx. (Mel.) caribeanus Galindo & Blanton, 1954; Cx. (Mel.) columnaris Sá & Hutchings n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) commevynensis Bonne-Wepster & Bonne, 1919; Cx. (Mel.) comptus Sá & Sallum n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) dunni; Cx. (Mel.) ensiformis Bonne-Wepster & Bonne, 1919; Cx. (Mel.) exedrus; Cx. (Mel.) longisetosus Sá & Sallum n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) longistylus Sá & Sallum n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) loturus; Cx. (Mel.) spinifer Sá & Sallum n. sp.; Cx. (Mel.) trigeminatus Clastrier, 1970; and Cx. (Mel.) zeteki. Keys, descriptions and illustrations for the identification of the male, female, pupal and fourth-instar larval stages of each species are provided. The treatment of each species includes a complete synonymy, descriptions of available life stages, a taxonomic discussion, updated bionomics and geographical distribution, and a list of material examined. CONCLUSIONS: The taxonomy of the Atratus Group of Culex (Melanoconion) is updated, including descriptions of five new species. The number of valid species is greater than the number recognized in the previous taxonomic study of the group, increasing from seven to 14 species. Distributional and bionomical data are updated. Morphology-based identification keys for females, males, fourth-instar larvae and pupae provided in this study will facilitate species identification.

Insect (Hexapoda) diversity in the oceanic archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil: updated taxonomic checklist and new records

ABSTRACT Hexapods, commonly known as insects, are a neglected taxonomic group in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, with unanswered questions about their species richness and the ecological processes in which they are involved (e.g., colonization, introduction, establishment, and extinction). Herein, we provide an updated Hexapod checklist with current nomenclatural combinations. The entomofauna of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago is currently composed of 453 species in 21 orders. The orders, and their respective number of species, are: Blattaria (9), Coleoptera (118), Collembola (29), Dermaptera (3), Diplura (1), Diptera (134), Embioptera (1), Hemiptera (29), Hymenoptera (59), Isoptera (2), Lepidoptera (25), Mantodea (1), Neuroptera (3), Odonata (5), Orthoptera (11), Phasmatodea (1), Phthiraptera (6), Psocoptera (3), Siphonaptera (1), Thysanoptera (10), and Zygentoma (2). The archipelago has 263 new taxon records (family + genera + species). Thirty-eight species (3.39%) were described from local specimens and most of them are likely endemic species. This study more than doubles our knowledge (from the previous 190 records) of the entomofauna in this large Brazilian archipelago. This study also provides a baseline for studies on its conservation status and for implementing future environmental management programs.

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) From the Northwestern Brazilian Amazon: Araçá River.

The mosquito fauna (Diptera: Culicidae) from two remote localities along the Araçá River, within the Municipality of Barcelos, towards the northern border of the Brazilian State of Amazonas, were sampled using CDC, Shannon, Malaise, and Suspended traps, along with net sweeping and immature collections. During June 2010, 111 collections yielded more than 23,500 mosquitoes distributed in 15 genera, representing 119 different species, together with eight morphospecies, which may represent undescribed new taxa. Among the species collected, there is one new distributional record for Brazil and nine new distributional records for the State of Amazonas. With the highest number of species, the genus Culex Linnaeus also had the largest number of individuals followed by Aedes Meigen with the second highest number of species. The most abundant species was Culex (Melanoconion) gnomatos Sallum, Hutchings & Ferreira followed by Culex (Melanoconion) portesi Senevet & Abonnenc, Culex (Culex) mollis Dyar & Knab, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) fulvus (Wiedemann), Culex (Melanoconion) pedroi Sirivanakarn & Belkin, Culex (Melanoconion) crybda Dyar, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) nubilus (Theobald), and Anopheles (Anopheles) peryassui Dyar & Knab. The epidemiological implications of mosquito species found are discussed and are compared with other mosquito inventories from the Amazon region. As the first standardized mosquito inventory of the Araçá River, with the identification of 127 species level taxa, the number of mosquito species which have been collected along the northern tributaries of the middle Rio Negro Basin (i.e., Padauari and Araçá Rivers) increased significantly.

Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) diversity of a forest-fragment mosaic in the Amazon rain forest.

To study the impact of Amazonian forest fragmentation on the mosquito fauna, an inventory of Culicidae was conducted in the upland forest research areas of the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project located 60 km north of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The culicid community was sampled monthly between February 2002 and May 2003. CDC light traps, flight interception traps, manual aspiration, and net sweeping were used to capture adult specimens along the edges and within forest fragments of different sizes (1, 10, and 100 ha), in second-growth areas surrounding the fragments and around camps. We collected 5,204 specimens, distributed in 18 genera and 160 species level taxa. A list of mosquito taxa is presented with 145 species found in the survey, including seven new records for Brazil, 16 new records for the state of Amazonas, along with the 15 morphotypes that probably represent undescribed species. No exotic species [Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse)] were found within the sampled areas. Several species collected are potential vectors of Plasmodium causing human malaria and of various arboviruses. The epidemiological and ecological implications of mosquito species found are discussed, and the results are compared with other mosquito inventories from the Amazon region.

Culicidae (Diptera, Culicomorpha) from the western Brazilian Amazon: Juami-Japurá Ecological Station / Culicidae (Diptera, Culicomorpha) da Amazônia Ocidental Brasileira: Estação Ecológica Juami-Japurá

With 312 trap-hours of sampling effort, 1554 specimens of Culicidae (Diptera) were collected, using CDC and Malaise traps, in nine different locations along the Juami River, within the Juami-Japurá Ecological Station, Amazonas State, Brazil. A list of mosquito species with 54 taxa is presented, which includes three new distributional records for the state of Amazonas. The species found belong to the genera Anopheles, Aedeomyia, Aedes, Psorophora, Culex, Coquillettidia, Sabethes, Wyeomyia and Uranotaenia.

Com um esforço amostral de 312 horas/armadilha, 1.554 espécimes adultos de Culicidae (Diptera) foram coletados, utilizando armadilhas CDC e Malaise, em nove localidades diferentes ao longo do Rio Juami, na Estação Ecológica Juami-Japurá, Amazonas, Brasil. Apresenta-se uma lista de espécies de mosquitos contendo 54 taxa, incluindo três novos registros de distribuição para o Estado do Amazonas. As espécies encontradas pertencem aos gêneros Anopheles, Aedeomyia, Aedes, Psorophora, Culex, Coquillettidia, Sabethes, Wyeomyia e Uranotaenia.

O acervo de mosquitos (Diptera, Culicidae) de Nelson L. Cerqueira na Coleção de Invertebrados do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brasil / The Nelson L. Cerqueira Mosquito Collection (Diptera, Culicidae) in the Invertebrate Collection of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil

Registra-se a descoberta de espécimes de mosquitos que pertenciam a Nelson L. Cerqueira, e estão sendo depositados na coleção de Invertebrados do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia. A coleção contém 2.046 espécimes adultos e 387 lâminas representando 261 espécies, 22 gêneros, incluindo 51 parátipos de 34 espécies. Mais de 90 por cento dos espécimes foram coletados no Brasil dos quais metade são do Estado do Amazonas. As espécies representadas neste acervo são listadas indicando o número de espécimes para cada tipo de preparação e as localidades de coleta. O material tipo também é listado, incluindo os dados dos rótulos de identificação e de procedência, bem como outras informações pertinentes.