New records of Simuliidae (Diptera, Nematocera) in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

New records of Simuliidae (Diptera, Nematocera) in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

Mateus Pepinelli^I; Susana Trivinho-Strixino^II; Neusa Hamada^III

^IPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de São Carlos. E-mail: [e-mail]

^IIDepartamento de Hidrobiologia, Laboratório de Entomologia Aquática, Universidade Federal de São Carlos. Caixa Postal 676, 13565-905 São Carlos-SP, Brazil

^IIICoordenação de Pesquisas em Entomologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia. Caixa Postal 478, 69011-970 Manaus-AM, Brazil

ABSTRACT

Adult and immature Simuliidae were studied in 31 streams of 8 regions of the State of São Paulo. Among the 25 species collected, seven are new records for the State of São Paulo, and one of them, Simulium shewellianum Coscarón, 1985 for Brazil as well.

Keywords: Black fly; new records; Simuliidae; stream insects.

The black flies (Diptera, Nematocera, Simuliidae) are distributed worldwide, except in Antarctica, in some deserts and on islands without running water (CROSSKEY 1990). According to CROSSKEY (2002), 1787 species are recognized; in Brazil 87 species have been reported, of which 83 belong to the genus Simulium Latreille, 1802 and four to the genus Lutzsimulium d'Andretta & d'Andretta, 1947 (CROSSKEY & HOWARD 1997; CROSSKEY 1999, 2002). In the State of São Paulo there are 42 species recorded (CROSSKEY & HOWARD 1997; CROSSKEY 2002).

This study is part of the "Biologia e Ecologia de Insetos, Moluscos e Crustáceos de água doce do Estado de São Paulo" project of the BIOTA/FAPESP program, which has as its goal the surveying of biodiversity of the São Paulo State.

The black fly fauna was surveyed in 31 streams in eight regions, including a park in the metropolitan area of São Paulo City, the center-west region, the north and south coastal region, and the mountain region of Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar. The sampling was realized in two campaigns: the dry season of 2001 (June - September) and the rain season of 2002 (January –April).

The larvae and pupae of black flies were collected manually or with a Surber collector and fixed in 70% ethanol. Some pupae were reared to adults, and then stored in 70% ethanol; also, female adults biting humans during the sampling period were collected and stored in 70% ethanol. The specimens were deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo. Some additional specimens were deposited in the collection of Laboratório de Entomologia Aquática da Universidade Federal de São Carlos.

Twenty-five species of black flies were collected during this study: Simulium anamariae Vulcano, 1962; S. botulibranchium Lutz, 1910; S. brachycladum Lutz & Pinto, 1932; S. clavibranchium Lutz, 1910; S. dinelli (Joan, 1912); S. distinctum Lutz, 1910; S. empascae, Py-Daniel & Moreira, 1988; S. friedlanderi, Py-Daniel, 1987; S. inaequale Paterson & Shannon, 1927; S. incrustatum Lutz, 1910; S. lutzianum Pinto, 1931; S. nigrimanum Macquart, 1838; S. noguerai d'Andretta & Dolores Gonzalez, 1964; S. perflavum Roubaud, 1906 ; S. pertinax Kollar, 1832; S. riograndense Py-Daniel, Souza & Caldas, 1988; S. spinibranchium Lutz, 1910; S. subclavibranchium Lutz, 1910; S. subnigrum Lutz, 1910; S. subpallidum Lutz, 1910; S. shewellianum Coscarón, 1985; S. travassosi d'Andretta & d'Andretta, 1947; S. (Psaroniocompsa)

sp., in the amazonicum group; Lutzsimuliumpernigrum (Lutz, 1910); L. hirticosta (Lutz, 1910). Seven species are recorded for the first time for the state and one is a new record for Brazil (Table I, Figure 1). All the species were collected in the dry and wet season, except S. (Psaroniocompsa) sp. that was collected only in the dry season.

The larvae and pupae of Simulium riograndense and S. friedlanderi were collected in a stream located in a semideciduous forest area with complete canopy cover. Both were found attached to rocks located in small waterfalls. Simulium empascae was found on rocks in a stream with a

steep slope and partial canopy cover. Simulium dinelli were collected at two coastal locations (Cubatão and Cananéia) in semi-polluted streams with intermediate slope and riparian vegetation absent. Simulium shewellianum, a new record for Brazil, was collected at the base of the Serra do Mar mountains (Cananéia county) in a stream with a gentle slope, a streambed composed of sand and decomposed vegetation in an area with complete canopy cover. Larvae and pupae were collected on submerged tree branches and stems. Simulium lutzianum was collected in the Rio das Mortes in an area with riparian vegetation and partial canopy cover. The immatures were found attached to streamside vegetation that was in contact with the water surface. Simulium (Psaroniocompsa) sp. was collected in the Rio das Mortes biting humans during fieldwork. Only one adult female was collected, and its scutum pattern is similar to those of the Simulium oyapockense species complex; in the amazonicum group (CROSSKEY & HOWARD 1997), identification to species was not possible, since other life stages were not collected, especially the male adult. Simulium oyapockense s.l. was recently discovered in Argentina (COSCARÓN & COSCARÓN-ARIAS 2000).

Although this study has limited to low order streams and concentrated in some regions of the state of São Paulo the results represent more than 50% of the known black fly fauna of this state. Furthermore, the seven new records increase to 49 species reported for the state of São Paulo and 88 to Brazil.

Acknowledgements. We thank all the people who collaborated with this study. The senior author received a CNPq masters fellowship (process number 133476/2001-4). This work was partially supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de São Paulo (FAPESP) within the BIOTA/FAPESP – The Biodiversity Virtual Institute Program.

Received 28.XI.2002

accepted 30.VIII.2003

• BIOTA (1999). http://www.biota.org.br/info/saopaulo/bacias/, Programa Biota/Fapesp, Instituto Virtual da Biodiversidade.
• COSCARÓN, S.; C. L. COSCARÓN-ARIAS. 2000. New species for the blackfly (Diptera-Simuliidae) fauna of Argentina with description of adults, pupa and larva of Simulium oyapockense s.l. and S. seriatum Memórias Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 95(2): 179-187.
• CROSSKEY, R. W. 1990. The natural history of Blackflies London, The British Museum of Natural History, 711 p.
• CROSSKEY, R. W. 1999. First update to the taxonomic and geographical inventory of world blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) London, The Natural History Museum, 13 p.
• CROSSKEY, R. W. 2002. Second Update to the Taxonomic and Geographical Inventory of World Blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) London, The Natural History Museum, 14 p.
• CROSSKEY, R. W. & T. HOWARD. 1997. A new taxonomic and geographical inventory of blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) London, The Natural History Museum, 144 p.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  03 June 2004
• Date of issue
  Dec 2003

History

• Received
  28 Nov 2002
• Accepted
  30 Aug 2003