[The synanthropic potential of Kerteszia and Culex mosquitoes (Diptera:Culicidae) in Southeastern Brazil].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the synanthropic potential of Anopheles bellator and An. cruzii in a village close to a wild environment. For comparative purposes, Culex quinquefasciatus and Cx. sacchettae populations were also investigated.


METHODS
From October 1996 to January 2000, vectors investigations were carried out in Pedrinhas village, Southeastern of S. Paulo State, Brazil, through systematic collections with human bait, air aspirations and Shannon traps. The synanthropic index was estimated using Nuorteva's indices plus the Mihályi's endophylic factor.


RESULTS
Attraction principle was s=35.7 for both Kerteszia species at the peridomiciliary environment through human bait. Cx. sacchettae showed a sr ratio of 12.8 with a degree of synanthropy. However active search through the aspiration method yielded negative s values, such as -43.1 for An. bellator and -48.2 for An. cruzii. For Cx. sacchettae that value was -3.0. These values were calculated when +100.00 was given to Cx. quinquefasciatus, which showed the highest synanthropic habits, corresponding to s =+93.8.


CONCLUSIONS
The present data allow to conclude that what was observed until now for isolated rural dwellings is valid for small villages at the same conditions. This means that female Kerteszia adults tend to be in anthropic environment for blood seeking. After that, they return to the surrounding natural environment of the village. Regarding Cx. Sacchettae, they seem to have an anthropic adaptation tendency.
Forattini
O P
OP
Departamento de Epidemiologia, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. opforati@usp.br
Kakitani
I
I
dos Santos
R C
RC
Kobayashi
K M
KM
Ueno
H M
HM
Fernández
Z
Z
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001938:Brazil; D003465:Culex / Q000502:physiology; D009033:Culicidae / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male