BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofitpublishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access tocritical research.

New Records of Mosquitoes Carrying Dermatobia hominis Eggsin the State of São Paulo, Southeastern BrazilAuthor(s): Marco Jacometto Marchi, Petra Assis Pereira, Regiane Maria TironiDe Menezes, and Rosa Maria TubakiSource: Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 28(2):116-118.2012.Published By: The American Mosquito Control AssociationDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2987/12-6222R.1URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.2987/12-6222R.1

BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in thebiological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable onlineplatform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations,museums, institutions, and presses.

Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated contentindicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use.

Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercialuse. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to theindividual publisher as copyright holder.

SCIENTIFIC NOTE

NEW RECORDS OF MOSQUITOES CARRYING DERMATOBIA HOMINIS

EGGS IN THE STATE OF SAO PAULO, SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL

MARCO JACOMETTO MARCHI, PETRA ASSIS PEREIRA, REGIANE MARIA TIRONI DE MENEZESAND ROSA MARIA TUBAKI1

Medical Entomology Laboratory, Superintendencia de Controle de Endemias (SUCEN), 01027-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil

ABSTRACT. We found 4 species of mosquitoes bearing eggs of the human botfly, Dermatobia hominis, inthe Reserva Municipal de Trabiju, Pindamonhangaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The mosquitoes weresimultaneously collected in landing–biting catches by 2 collectors. From a total of 6,902 specimens collectedfrom January through April 2010, the 15 females carrying D. hominis eggs belonged to Aedes scapularis,Limatus durhamii, Onirion personatum, and Wyeomyia confusa. The first 3 species are new reports of phoresyamong mosquitoes and the human botfly.

KEY WORDS Culicidae, mosquitoes, phoresy, human botfly, Dermatobia hominis

Dermatobia hominis (Linnaeus Jr.), humanbotfly (Diptera: Oestridae), is one of severalectoparasites of medical and veterinary impor-tance (Gomes et al. 1998), which occurs in thetropical and subtropical areas of Latin America(Pinto et al. 2002), from Mexico to Argentina(Neves 2010). The larvae of this and some otherfly species feed and grow in the cutaneous tissueof many mammals, including humans, therebycausing a furuncular lesion known as myiasis.There are also reports of D. hominis incidence incattle (e.g., Magalhaes and Lima 1988, Pinto etal. 2002), resulting in economic losses such asreduced production of milk and meat, loss inbody weight, and cost depreciation in the leatherdue to hide damage (Gomes et al. 1998,Marcondes 2011).

The biological cycle of D. hominis is complex.This species is holometabolous, with a free-livingphase involving adults and pupae (the latterdeveloping in and emerging from humid soil),and a parasitic phase, represented by 1st to 3rdinstars. After mating and egg development, adultfemales search for and capture dipterous insectsor ticks for laying their eggs thereon. Subse-quently, these mechanical vectors (phoretics)transport the eggs to susceptible hosts. Thefemale flies usually search for diurnal, habituallyzoophilic insects, moderately active and mobile,and which are relatively smaller (Bates 1943).Among the various phoretic dipterous speciesfound with D. hominis eggs are representativesfrom the families Anthomyiidae, Calliphoridae,Culicidae, Fanniidae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae,Simuliidae, and Tabanidae (Guimaraes andPapavero 1999).

Our study site was located in the ReservaMunicipal de Trabiju (22u489S, 45u329W), Pinda-monhangaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the TropicalAtlantic Rainforest (Rizzini 1963). It consisted of603.9 ha of secondary forest situated near afoothills area with altitudes varying from 650 to1,100 m (Poncano et al. 1981). The canopy wascontinuous, except on the steeper slopes. Therewere modified areas nearby, viz., a 3-ha planta-tion of Eucalyptus sp. and a 1-ha field (Gomes etal. 2005). The regional climate is humid subtrop-ical, with a rainy summer and dry winter(CEPAGRI 2011). The average temperaturesvary from 21uC to 17.5uC, and total annualrainfall fluctuates from 1,300 to 3,000 mm.Rainfall, which occurs throughout the year, ismore concentrated from September to March(Nimer 1989).

The study was conducted weekly from themonths of January through April 2010. Thecollection of adult mosquitoes was done from8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The method used waslanding–biting catch, with a team of 2 collectorsworking simultaneously with manual aspiratorsprovided with collection flask and hand-nets(Neves and Silva 1989). The mosquitoes werekilled with chloroform, placed in entomologicalcollecting boxes, and taken to the Laboratory ofMedical Entomology at Superintendencia deControle de Endemias (SUCEN), where theywere pinned, identified to the species level withidentification keys (Lane 1953, Consoli andOliveira 1994, Forattini 2002), labeled, andarranged in entomological drawers.

Of the total 6,902 mosquitoes collected, 15(0.21%) females were carrying eggs of D.hominis. Among the 4 species of mosquitoesbearing eggs, the majority were Wyeomyiaconfusa (Lutz), corresponding to 11 individuals1 To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 28(2):116–118, 2012Copyright E 2012 by The American Mosquito Control Association, Inc.

116

(0.34% of the total-by-species collected), followedby Limatus durhamii Theobald with 2 individuals(0.12%), Aedes scapularis (Rondani) with 1individual (1.97%), and Onirion personatum(Lutz) with 1 individual (5.55%). The averagenumber of D. hominis eggs on each phoreticmosquito was 8.66. The female bearing the mosteggs belonged to the species Wy. confusa, with 15eggs, and the female with the fewest eggs was Li.durhamii, with only 3 eggs.

In the material examined, some mosquitoespresented a few hatched eggs with black 1stinstars appearing outwards (Fig. 1.1). Worthy ofnote: 1 female of Li. durhamii had the eggsattached on the dorsal part of the abdomen(Fig. 1.2), whereas on individuals of On. perso-natum (Fig. 1.3), Wy. confusa (Fig. 1.4), and Ae.scapularis, they were located ventrally.

The D. hominis eggs are navicular shaped, witha flat anterior end, recurved posterior end, rounddorsal and lateral surfaces, and flatter ventralsurface. The operculum is dorso-anteriorly posi-

tioned, with well-evident hatching lines surround-ing the micropylar plate (Leite 1988).

In Brazil, the fly occurs countrywide, except fordry regions in the northeast. The human botflyprefers humid and higher areas, not above1,000 m. Usually, adults live hidden in smallforest locations (Neves 2010). In a study in thehighlands of Santa Catarina State, with trapsusing calves as bait, higher numbers of mosqui-toes with eggs were collected in woodlands thanin open pastures. Furthermore, more mosquitoeswere collected during the daytime (7:00 a.m. to6:00 p.m.) than at night (6:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.)(Paloschi et al. 1991).

The incidence of D. hominis eggs on mosqui-toes varies, depending on the type of area andspecies studied (Bates 1943). Many phoreticmosquitoes were reported in the ‘‘lower tropicalrain forests’’ in Colombia. The survey wasundertaken in 2 different areas. The 1st areawas described as partly secondary-growth forest,and cutover plain forest, with an abundance of

Fig. 1. Female mosquitoes carrying eggs of Dermatobia hominis, showing: (1) detail in lateral view of normaland a few hatched eggs with 1st instars, (2) dorsal view of Limatus durhamii, and lateral views of (3) Onirionpersonatum and (4) Wyeomyia confusa.

JUNE 2012 SCIENTIFIC NOTE 117

ground-pool habitats. During the day, manymosquitoes of the species Psorophora ferox(Von Humboldt) and Ae. serratus (Theobald),as well as a few of the genus Wyeomyia, werecollected with D. hominis eggs. At night, phoreticMansonia spp. and Ps. cingulata (Fabr.) werecollected using donkey as a bait. The proximity ofnumerous cattle as plausible main hosts waspossible evidence of this high incidence. The 2ndarea was comprised of foothill forest, with goodsoil drainage and very rare ground-pool sites.There, although phoretic Anopheles boliviensis(Theobald), Haemagogus capricornii Lutz, andTrichoprosopon lampropus (Howard, Dyar, andKnab) were collected, most Culicidae with D.hominis eggs belonged to the genus Wyeomyia(Bates 1943). Many sabethine mosquitoes, suchas of the genus Wyeomyia itself and Limatus,breed in natural containers, such as bromeliadsand other plants with water reservoirs. The lattergenus has variable breeding sites, both artificialand natural (Forattini 2002). In a similar study,also in Colombia, mosquitoes identified with D.hominis eggs were Coquillettidia arribalzagae(Theobald), Johnbelkinia leucopus (Dyar andKnab), Jb. longipes (Fabr.), and Tr. digitatum(Rondani) (Barreto and Lee 1969).

Nineteen mosquito species, compiled fromseveral studies, have been reported as carryingD. hominis eggs (Guimaraes and Papavero 1999).We recorded 1 of the 4 sabethine species reported,Wy. confusa. Three other species found are newphoretic reports, viz., Ae. scapularis, On. perso-natum, and Li. durhamii.

We wish to thank Carlos Brisola Marcondesand Gerson Azulim Muller for technical support,as well as the Secretariat of Health of Sao Paulofor the fellowship program. This study was partof a project financed by SUCEN.

REFERENCES CITED

Barreto P, Lee VH. 1969. Artropodos hematofagos delRio Raposo, Valle, Colombia. II. Culicidae. Caldasia10:407–440.

Bates M. 1943. Mosquitoes as vectors of Dermatobia inEastern Colombia. Ann Entomol Soc Am 36:21–24.

CEPAGRI [Centro de Pesquisas Meteorologicas eClimaticas Aplicadas a Agricultura]. 2011. Climados municıpios paulistas [Internet]. Campinas, Brazil:Centro de Pesquisas Meteorologicas e ClimaticasAplicadas a Agricultura [accessed December 14,2011]. Available from: http://www.cpa.unicamp.br/

outras-informacoes/clima-dos-municipios-paulistas.html.

Consoli RAGB, Oliveira RL. 1994. Principais mosquitosde importancia sanitaria no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro,Brazil: Editora Fiocruz.

Forattini OP. 2002. Culicidologia medica. Sao Paulo,Brazil: Editora da Universidade de Sao Paulo.

Gomes A, Honer MR, Koller WW, Silva RL. 1998.Vetores de ovos de Dermatobia hominis (L. Jr. 1781)(Diptera: Cuterebridae) na regiao de cerrados doMato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet7:37–40.

Gomes EPC, Fisch STV, Mantovani W. 2005. Estru-tura e composicao do componente arboreo naReserva Ecologica do Trabiju, Pindamonhangaba,SP, Brazil. Acta Bot Bras 19:451–464.

Guimaraes JH, Papavero N. 1999. Myiasis in man andanimals in the Neotropical region. Sao Paulo, Brazil:Editora Pleiade and FAPESP.

Lane J. 1953. Neotropical Culicidae. Volume 2. SaoPaulo, Brazil: Editora da Universidade de Sao Paulo.

Leite ACR. 1988. Scanning electron microscopy of theegg and the first instar larva of Dermatobia hominis(Diptera: Cuterebridae). Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz83:253–257.

Magalhaes FEP, Lima JD. 1988. Frequencia de larvasde Dermatobia hominis (Linnaeus Jr., 1781), embovinos em Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais. Arq BrasMed Vet Zootec 40:361–367.

Marcondes CB. 2011. Entomologia medica e veterinaria.2nd edition. Volume I. Sao Paulo, Brazil: EditoraAtheneu.

Neves DP. 2010. Parasitologia humana. Sao Paulo,Brazil: Editora Atheneu.

Neves DP, Silva JED. 1989. Entomologia medica:comportamento, captura, montagem. Belo Horizonte,Brazil: Coopmed Editora.

Nimer E. 1989. Climatologia do Brasil. 2nd edition. Riode Janeiro, Brazil: IBGE, Departamento de RecursosNaturais e Estudos ambientais.

Paloschi CG, Ramos CI, Souza AP, Bellato V, SartorAA, Dal’Agnol CA. 1991. Vetores de ovos deDermatobia hominis no Planalto Catarinense. PesqAgropec Bras 26:1879–1883.

Pinto SB, Soccol VT, Vendruscolo E, Rochadelli R,Ribeiro PB, Freitag A, Henemann C, Uemura M.2002. Bioecologia de Dermatobia hominis (LinnaeusJr., 1781) em Palotina, Parana, Brazil. Cienc Rural32:821–827.

Poncano WL, Carneiro CDR, Bistrichi CA, AlmeidaFFM, Prandini FL. 1981. Mapa geomorfologico doestado de Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo, Brazil: Instituto dePesquisas Tecnologicas do Estado de Sao Paulo.

Rizzini CT. 1963. Nota previa sobre a divisaofitogeografica (florıstico-sociologica) do Brasil. RevBras Geogr 1:3–57.

118 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION VOL. 28, NO. 2