Fauna of Culicidae in rural areas of Porto Velho and the first record of Mansonia ( Mansonia ) flaveola ( Coquillet , 1906 ) , for the State of Rondônia , Brazil Fauna de Culicidae em áreas rurais de Porto Velho e primeiro registro de Mansonia ( Mansonia ) flaveola ( Coquillet , 1906 ) , para o Esta

Introduction: Knowledge concerning the fauna of Culicidae in the Brazilian Amazon States contributes to current understanding of the bionomics of the insects collected and makes it possible to observe changes in the fauna over time. Methods: The Culicidae were captured with a BG-Sentinel® trap in extra-domiciliary area of two rural regions of Porto Velho in June and July of 2007 and 2008. Results: A total of 10,695 Culicidae was collected, belonging to nine genera: Coquillettidia, Culex, Mansonia, Psorophora, Aedes, Aedeomyia, Anopheles, Uranotaenia and Wyeomyia. Conclusions: The presence of Mansonia (Mansonia) flaveola was recorded in the State of Rondônia for the first time.

The Amazon is the biome with the greatest entomological diversity in Brazil and the study of its fauna is very relevant.The collections were made in two locations of Porto Velho, Mato Grosso (8º 44'09 40"S, 63º56'07 40"W) and São João (8º 49'55 09"S, 63º56'15 15"W).The first collection point was on BR 364 near kilometre 9.5, and the second on BR 319 at kilometre 1 after Rio Madeira, in the direction of Humaitá, State of Amazonas.The collections in Mato Grosso were made during the months of June and July 2007 and in São João, in the same months in 2008.The two locations were within large forested areas, near water bodies.The approximate distance between the two areas was 9km.
The samples were collected in extra-domiciliary environments, 15m from the residence, over a period of 2h (6pm to 8pm) using BG-Sentinel® traps 5 .Dry ice was used as a CO 2 source.The samples were identified using dichotomous keys 6,7 .Mosquito species diversity in Mato Grosso and São João was evaluated by using the Shannon diversity index (H').
Voucher specimens were deposited in the entomology laboratory of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and in the Department of Arbovirology of the Evandro Chagas Institute.
The least represented genus was Uranotaenia, with only two collected specimens, one from each year (Table 1).On average, 77.5 Culicidae were collected per hour.Only 130 specimens could not be identified at least by genus due to poor specimen conditions.The genera and species collected in the two locations were similar, although the genus Wyeomyia was only captured in São João and the Shannon diversity indices were different: São João was H' 0.8847 and Mato Grosso was H'0.5560.
The genera with the highest number of species were Mansonia and Anopheles.
Among the 2,213 anophelines, four different species were identified: Anopheles darlingi (65%) was present in Mato Grosso and São João, while A. triannulatus, A. benarrochi and Anopheles oswaldoi together comprised 0.3%.Three of the anopheline species collected are important in the transmission of malaria: A. darlingi is considered to be one of the most efficient malaria vectors in the Neotropical region 10 ; A. triannulatus was found naturally infected with Plasmodium, including in Rondônia 11 and A. oswaldoi has been confirmed as a malaria vector in Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela 10 .
Eighty percent of the territory of the State of Rondônia is covered by the Amazon forest.Of the studies of its Culicidae fauna, the majority involve the subfamily Anophelinae due to the high transmission of malaria in the state.Few projects have investigated local Culicinae and most used traps to capture the mosquitoes, which damages the specimens, as occurred in this project.
Compared to previous studies performed in the State of Rondônia, only the genera Orthopodomyia, Sabethes, Trichoprosopom 1,3 , Limatus and Rhunchomyia 1 were not identified in this study.
With the exception of the species M. (M.) flaveola, all of the genera and species presently collected in Mato Grosso and São João had already been reported in the State of Rondônia.Mansonia (Mansonia) flaveola was first described in 1906 by Coquillett as Taeniorhynchus flaveolus, and renamed in 1970 by Belkin, Heinemam & Page 1970.It is found in North America (though only in Florida in the US), Central America (the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama) and South America (Suriname, French Guyana, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil, specifically Amazonas, São Paulo and Paraná) 13 .Mansonia (Mansonia) flaveola is easy to identify due to its characteristic maxillary palpus (about half as long as the proboscis) and yellow-coloured scutum.The biology of M. flaveola is similar to that of other species of the genus, presenting nocturnal behaviour, voracious and aggressive females and activity peak at dusk.
The scarce literature on Culicinae in the State of Rondônia and the fact that some of the species identified in this study are considered significant etiological vectors justifies similar studies in other areas of the state, especially using techniques that better preserve specimens and permit the collection of male specimens to study their genitalia.Although the study was conducted in the dry season (only two months in each location) and some specimens could not be identified at least by genus due to poor specimen conditions, the results demonstrate that the BG-Sentinel trap® is an efficient sampling method for the adult female Culicidae.
The entomofauna of the State of Rondônia is poorly documented, particularly with respect to the Culicinae population.Culicidae studies conducted in Rondônia include those by Xavier & Mattos 1 in Guajará Mirim and Porto Velho, Klein et al 2 in Costa Marques, Luz & Lourenço de Oliveira 3 in Candeias do Jamari and Cruz et al 4 in Porto Velho.The aim of this study was to contribute to the knowledge concerning the fauna of Culicidae in rural areas of Porto Velho, State of Rondônia.

TABLE 1 -Culicidae collected from Mato Grosso and São João, two rural locations in Porto Velho, State of Rondônia, in June and July 2007 and 2008, respectively, using a BG-Sentinel trap®. Mato Grosso (2007) São João (2008)
*In relation to the total Culicidae, **In relation only to the genus, X/h: average Culicidae per hour.