Journal Article

Diversity and seasonality of horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Amazon Forest fragments of Monte Negro, Rondônia, Western Amazon

Henriques, Augusto Loureiro, de Oliveira Zamarchi, Tallita Beatriz, Guimarães, Amanda Munari, Pessoa, Felipe Arley Costa, Camargo, Luís Marcelo Aranha, Rodrigues, Gratchela Dutra, Krolow, Tiago Kütter, Krüger, Rodrigo Ferreira

2024

Overview

Tabanidae are considered a nuisance to humans, wild animals, and livestock due to their painful, annoying, and insistent biting. Tabanids transmit some pathogens and parasites biologically and mechanically. In humans, there are relatively few pathogens transmitted regularly. Still, tabanids serve as vectors of a number of disease agents of animals, including viruses, bacteria, protozoans, and nematodes. They are more abundant in tropical and humid regions, and their seasonal patterns are affected by habitat changes such as deforestation and fragmentation. Here, we analyze the tabanid fauna in Monte Negro, a central municipality of Rondônia, Brazil, comparing abundance, richness, and diversity in forest and pasture habitats. Traps were set for 5 days a month for 12 consecutive months. We also examined how abiotic factors (humidity, temperature, and rainfall) affected the abundance, diversity, and richness and the effectiveness of Malaise and Nzi traps as sample methods. The influence of climatic variables on the richness and abundance of the species was tested using generalized linear models, and we used non-parametric dimensional scaling (nMDS) for analysis of species composition and diversity in different traps and environments. We collect 1032 specimens of 25 species. The most abundant species were Tabanus antarcticus , Dichelacera tetradelta , Tabanus mucronatus , and Leucotabanus albovarius . Forest habitats had the highest number of tabanids, followed by pasture and the anthropized area, and there was no significant difference regarding the effectiveness of the Malaise and Nzi traps. The study provides new information on the distribution and ecology of tabanids in Brazil.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Abundance / Amazonia / Animals / Biodiversity / Biological diversity / Biological research / Biology, Experimental / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Brazil / Cattle / Communicable diseases / Deforestation / Diptera / Diptera - classification / Diptera - physiology / Distribution / Ecosystem / Environmental aspects / fauna / Forest fauna / Forests / Generalized linear models / Habitat changes / Habitat fragmentation / habitats / horses / Humidity / Hypotheses / Immunology / Livestock / Medical Microbiology / Microbiology / Nematoda / Outdoor activities / Pasture / pastures / Pathogens / rain / Risk factors / Seasons / species / Species composition / species diversity / Tabanidae / Tabanus / temperature / Traps / Variables / Vector-borne diseases / Vectors