Searching for putative avian malaria vectors in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in Brazil.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Haemosporidian parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus can have detrimental effects on individual birds and populations. Despite recent investigations into the distribution and richness of these parasites and their vertebrate hosts, little is known about their dipteran vectors. The Neotropics has the highest diversity of mosquitoes in the world, but few studies have tried to identify vectors in this area, hampering the understanding of the ecology of avian malaria in the highly diverse Neotropical environments.

Methods

Shannon traps and active collection were used to capture 27,110 mosquitoes in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in southeastern Brazil, a highly endangered ecosystem.

Results

We screened 17,619 mosquito abdomens from 12 different s

SUBMITTER: Ferreira FC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5112751 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature