ABSTRACT
Urban ants are considered a serious problem for public health due to their capacity to occupy all environments and for their being mechanical vectors of microorganisms. The present work was aimed to verify the occurrence of ant species at a hospital, at the General Office of Health, and at a laboratory of clinical analysis, in the county of Bandeirantes, PR, Brazil. A total of 1,629 collections were made in the period from October to December 2007, using nonpoisonous baits. The species recorded were: Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793); Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus, 1758), Paratrechina fulva (Mayr, 1862), Pheidole triconstricta Forel, 1886, Pheidole sp. 1, Pheidole sp. 2, Pheidole sp. 3, Pheidole sp. 4, Camponotus atriceps (Fr. Smith, 1858), Brachymyrmex sp., and Dorymyrmex sp. The microorganisms included the bacteria Staphylococcus sp., Serratia sp., Klebsiella sp., Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., and Pseudomonas sp.; the fungi Cladosporium sp., Fusarium sp., Trichophyton sp., Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp.; as well as yeasts.
KEY WORDS
Insecta; tramp ant species; microorganism; mechanical vector