Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul

About: Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul is a education organization based out in Campo Grande, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Species richness. The organization has 6903 authors who have published 9030 publications receiving 78977 citations. The organization is also known as: UFMS & Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Pheidole ants as potential biological control agents of the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis (Col., Curculionidae), in Southeast Brazil

Abstract: This study evaluates the potential of ants as natural biological control agents of the boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), during the between-season period, in South-east Brazil. Active adults of Anthonomus were experimentally distributed on the ground of the cotton field. Results show that 20% of the adult Anthonomus are attacked and removed by foraging ants. The native ant Pheidole oliveirai was by far the most efficient predator, accounting for 94 % of the predation on Anthonomus. Recruited workers of P. oliveirai were usually very fast at transporting the weevils to their nests. The potential benefit of suppressing overwintering adult Anthonomus during the between-season period is mainly that of reducing the risk of high level infestations during the next cropping cycle.

Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae) outbreaks: current situation and future outlook with emphasis on Brazil.

Abstract: The stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) has historically been a pest of dairy cattle and feedlots due to the availability of decaying plant matter mixed with animal excrements in such production systems. In the last few decades, stable fly outbreaks have also been reported in pasture-raised beef cattle, usually associated with wastes accumulated from animal feeding during winter, the introduction of large-scale crop operations near cattle ranches, and/or the inadvertent use of organic fertilizers. Population explosions of Stomoxys flies may also have natural causes, affecting not only domestic and/or wild animals but also humans. This article compiles information on stable fly outbreaks in Brazil and abroad and discusses their causes and consequences.

Spatiotemporal analysis of sandfly fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis at Pantanal, central South America

Abstract: Background: Environmental changes caused by urbanization can cause alterations in the ecology and behavior of sandflies and in the epidemiology of leishmaniasis. Geotechnological tools allow the analysis and recognition of spatiotemporal patterns by monitoring and mapping risk areas of this vector-borne disease. This study aims to describe the sandfly fauna in the municipality of Corumba and to compare it with the data described in a three-year period from 1984 to 1986 by Galati. A further aim was to analyze the influence of environmental changes on the composition of the fauna. Methods: Captures were conducted weekly from April 2012 to March 2013, in intra and peridomicile areas with automatic light traps, from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am. The following indices were calculated for both periods analyzed: Standardized Index of Species Abundance (SISA), Shannon’s diversity index (H) and Pielou’s index (J). The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was extracted from a remote sensing LANDSAT-5 image. Results: In total, 7,370 specimens (6,169 males and 1,201 females) were collected, distributed among 12 species. Lutzomyia cruzi was the most frequent species (93,79%) and the first in the ranking of standardized species abundance index in both studies. The dominance of the species Lu. cruzi in the neighborhoods of Maria Leite and Centro was demonstrated by the low equitability index. The neighborhood of Cristo Redentor had the greatest diversity of sandflies in the present study and the second greatest in the study performed by Galati et al. (Rev Saude Publica 31:378–390, 1997). Analyzing the satellite images and the NDVI from 1984 and 2010, the largest amount of dense vegetation was found in the neighborhood of Cristo Redentor. Conclusions: It was, therefore, possible to show how changes caused due to urbanization have affected the density and distribution of Lu. cruzi and other species over time. Moreover, the data suggest that different populations of sandflies adapt in different ways according to environmental conditions and the adaptation does not necessarily depends on the presence of high vegetation cover.