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Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 97, Num. 1, 2002, pp. 37-41
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Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de
Janeiro, Vol. 97(1) 2002, pp. 37-41
Cattle Dung Breeding Diptera
in Pastures in Southeastern Brazil: Diversity, Abundance and Seasonallity
Júlio Mendes, Arício Xavier Linhares*/+
Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal
de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil *Departamento de Parasitologia,
IB, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Caixa Postal 6109, 13083-970 Campinas,
SP, Brasil
+Corresponding author. Fax: +55-19-3289.3124. E-mail: aricio@unicamp.br
Work supported by Fapesp, grants no. 91/3228-1
and 92/3434-3.
Received 23 February 2001
Accepted 16 August 2001
Code Number: oc02005
Diptera that breed in undisturbed cattle droppings
in pastures present great diversity and abundance, and several species are of
veterinary importance and may cause economic losses. To survey the diversity,
abundance and seasonality of Diptera associated to this microhabitat, 83 samples
of 10 dung pats each were taken from April 1992 to April 1994 in the vicinity
of São Carlos, State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. A total
of 46,135 Diptera belonging to 20 families and at least 51 species were found
to breed in the pats. The most abundant and diverse families were Sepsidae,
Muscidae, Sarcophagidae and Sphaeroceridae. In general, the abundance was higher
from October to March, the warm and wet months. The importance of some Diptera,
both as horn fly enemies and as cattle dung decaying agents, is discussed.
Key words: Diptera - cattle dung - dung flies
- diversity - seasonality - Brazil
Cattle dung pats naturally dropped in pastures
are the microhabitat for an abundant and diversified arthropod fauna (Merrit
& Anderson 1977, Anderson et al. 1984, Blume 1985, Cervenka & Moon 1991).
The coprophagous community is represented mainly by Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera)
and Diptera that are the most important decaying agents of the dung pats (Laurence
1955, Nibaruta 1982, Anderson et al. 1984, Cervenka & Moon 1991). Dung breeding
Diptera are generally the most diverse group in cattle dung pats (Poorbaugh
et al. 1968, Nibaruta 1982, Blume 1985, Cervenka & Moon 1991), and several
species, such as the face fly Musca autumnalis (De Geer 1776) and Haematobia
spp. (Diptera: Muscidae) are of veterinary importance (Lancaster & Meish
1986).
The recent introduction of the horn fly Haematobia
irritans (Linnaeus 1758) into Northern Brazil, and its quick dispersion to practically
the entire country, stimulated investigations on the arthropod community of
cattle dung pats in pastures (Valério & Guimarães 1983, Fava
et al. 1994, Flechtmann et al. 1995a,b, Mendes & Linhares 1999). Such community
plays an important role in the dung pat decay process and in the natural control
of dung breeding pests (MacQueen & Beirne 1975, Merrit & Anderson 1977,
Roth et al. 1983, Anderson et al. 1984, Harris & Blume 1986, Hanski 1987,
Fay et al. 1990). Information on arthropod dung community is important not only
to biological and integrated control programs, but also to the implementation
of control programs of pests that breed in cattle droppings. However, there
are very few studies published on this subject in Brazil, restricted to a few
localities (Oliveira et al. 1993, Souza e Silva 1993, Flechtmann et al. 1995a,b,
Mendes & Linhares 1999). This paper presents data on diversity, abundance
and seasonality of cattle dung breeding Diptera in the vicinity of São
Carlos city, State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experimental sites were pastures of Brachiaria
decumbens Saft. and Andropogon gayanus Kunth at Fazenda Canchim,
a farm belonging to Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa),
located about 10 km northeast from São Carlos city. Ten naturally dropped
cattle dung pats, approximately 24 h old, and the substract 5 cm underneath
them were collected weekly during morning hours, placed in individual plastic
containers and taken to the Entomology Laboratory of the Department of Parasitology,
Campinas State University (Unicamp), about 150 km southeast of São Carlos.
A total of 83 samples, yielding 830 pats, was collected from April 1992 to April
1993. In each sample, a quarter of four dung pats and the underlying substrate
were placed into Berlese funnels to extract the Coleoptera and Macrochelidae
mites, and the results will be published elsewhere. The remaining of the dung
pats in the containers were covered with organza and kept at room temperature
until the complete emergence of all Diptera. This procedure took approximately
30-40 days in the warm months and 40-50 days in the cooler months. Emerging
Diptera and other arthropods were collected daily and placed in 70% alcohol
for identification. The substract was then placed in water to extract, by flotation,
any remaining viable pupa from which adults had not yet emerged. The collected
pupae were kept in transparent gelatin capsules for adult emergence. Diptera
identification were done using the identification keys of McAlpine (1981, 1987).
The species were grouped into trophic groups following Valiela (1974) and Hanski
(1987). To test for any correlation among family's abundances, the Pearson's
correlation analysis was done using SASâ
PROC CORR procedure (SAS 1987).
RESULTS
A total of 46,135 Diptera was obtained,
belonging to 20 families and to at least 51 species. The most diverse and abundant
families were Muscidae, Sepsidae, Sarco-phagidae and Sphaeroceridae (Table).
The oscillations in temperature and rainfall during the two experimental years
determined a warm and humid period from October to March, and a cool and dry
period from April to September (Fig. 1).
When compared to the warm months, the emergence time during the cool period
lasted 5 to 10 days longer. The majority of the Diptera emerged within the first
20 days during the warm months and within the first 25 days in the dry period.
The most abundant Diptera can be divided into three groups according to emergence
time: (1) Sepsidae; Brontaea debilis, Calythea sp., Haematobia
irritans (Muscidae); Sarcophagula occidua (Sarcophagidae) and part
of the Sphaeroceridae that emerged during the first 10 days after the dung pats
were collect from pastures; (2) the remaining Muscidae, Sarcophagidae and Sphaeroceridae
that emerged between the 11th and the 20th days (3) Tipulidae, Sciaridae and
Stratiomyidae that began to emerge after the 20th day. In general, the species
presented greater abundance during the warm and humid period (Figs
2, 3,
4, 5).
The exceptions were Biopyrellia bipuncta (Fig.
2), Calythea sp. (Fig. 3) and
Coproica sp. (Fig. 4) that
were also abundant during the cold and dry period. The correlation coefficient
was positive and significant for the most abundant families: Sepsidae vs. Sarcophagidae
(r = +0.56; p < 0.0001); Sepsidae vs. Sphaeroceridae (r = +0.53; p < 0.0001);
Muscidae vs. Sarcophagidae (r = +0.73; p < 0.0001).
DISCUSSION
As reported by other authors (Cervenka
& Moon 1991, Souza e Silva 1993), some loss of small sized specimens occurred,
mainly during the extraction from the pats, but apparently, this fact did not
influence the results, because of the great abundance of these insects in the
samples. Although many authors state that Diptera species usually visit and
lay eggs in dung pats within the first 24 h of dung exposition, results of Barth
et al. (1994) indicate that low abundance or absence of some species would be
the result of breeding preference by such species for older dung pats. In addition,
some species of Sphaeroceridae and Sepsidae may have more than one generation
in the dung pat (Laurence 1955, Souza e Silva 1993). The successional pattern
of adult emergence was similar to that found by Nibaruta (1982) and Souza e
Silva (1993). However, our results on emergence times differed from those of
Nibaruta (1982). The low abundance of H. irritans may be attributed
to the genetic resistance of the host, cattle breeding management procedures,
and to its natural enemies found in the dung. The significant Muscidae and Sepsidae
diversities were also recently verified in this country by Oliveira et al. (1993),
Souza e Silva (1993), and Flechtmann et al. (1995). Although the Sepsidae are
generally abundant, they are not considered to be important H. irritans
competitors or dung decaying agents. Their larvae are considered dung tunnelers,
contributing to pat aeration, which can help dung colonization by other arthropods,
and to dung loss of water. Therefore, they aid in the natural control of H.
irritans. The correlation analysis suggests that the observed abundances
of Sarcophagidae and Brontaea spp. may be enough to promote a statistically
significant reduction in the abundances of other analyzed groups. Larvae of
these two groups are known to be facultative predators in some situations (Harris
& Blume 1986, Ferrar 1987, Hanski 1987). It is also important to point out
the possibility that some adults of Diptera may act as transporters of Dermatobia
hominis (Diptera: Cuterebridae) eggs (Artigas & Serra 1965, Oliveira
1986).
ACKNOWLDGEMENTS
Diptera identification was done partly with the
help of Dr Denise Pamplona, Dr Marcia Souto Couri and Dr Rita Tibana from Museu
Nacional do Rio de Janeiro.
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© 2002
Instituto Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz
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