Interação ecológica entre Aedes aegypti e Aedes albopictus (DIPTERA:CULICIDAE): Temperatura como fator modulador

Abstract

The temperature interferes in the life cycle of the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, causing changes in their distribution, dispersion; in its establishment and in its population explosions. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effect of different temperatures on the development of these mosquitoes in the field, besides verifying if there was interspecific competition modulated by the temperature. The research was conducted with eggs collected in the seasons of drought and rain, in the municipality of Campina Grande (PB), using traps of the ovitrampas type. In the field, the effect of temperature on egg positivity (IPO) and egg density (IDO) was evaluated to verify the predominance of one species over the other. The IPO of Ae. aegypti was lower in the rainy season (42.2%) and IDO (40.63) than in the dry season (77.77%, 64.54), respectively. However, it was verified at one of the IDO collection points of 54.35 in the rainy season. Also in the rainy season, only Ae. albopictus with IPO of 4.44% and IDO 18.5. It was observed that Ae. aegypti are distributed heterogeneously at the points (X^2=2.2 e-16 ; P<0.05). Laboratory bioassays have shown that Ae. aegypti overlies Ae. albopictus, regardless of the proportion of its populations, because Ae. albopictus is more sensitive than Ae. aegypti. It has been found that 25 ° C is the ideal temperature for the development of both species, due to a larger larval hatching. The data reinforce the need to study the temperature in the interaction of these mosquitoes, since together with other abiotic factors it can play a crucial role in the permanence of the species in the environment, which can affect the rate of oviposition and the number of viable eggs.