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Culicidae and Ceratopogonidae (Diptera: Nematocera) Inhabiting Phytotelmata in Iguazú National Park, Misiones Province, Subtropical Argentina

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Culicidae and Ceratopogonidae (Diptera: Nematocera) Inhabiting Phytotelmata in Iguazú National Park, Misiones Province, Subtropical Argentina ISSN 0373-5680 (impresa), ISSN 1851-7471 (en línea) Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argent. 70 (1-2): 111-118, 2011 111 Culicidae and Ceratopogonidae (Diptera: Nematocera) inhabiting phytotelmata in Iguazú National Park, Misiones Province, subtropical Argentina CAMPOS Raúl E. *, ****, Gustavo SPINELLI**, **** and Motoyoshi MOGI*** * Instituto de Limnología “Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet”, Universidad Nacional de La Plata – CONICET, CC 712 (1900) La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina; e-mail: [email protected] ** División de Entomología, Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/no. (1900) La Plata, Buenos Aires Argentina; e-mail: [email protected] *** Division of Parasitology, Department of Pathology and Biodefence, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Nabeshima 5-1-1, Saga 849-8501, Japan; e-mail: [email protected] **** Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) Culicidae y Ceratopogonidae (Diptera: Nematocera) que habitan en fitotelmata en el Parque Nacional Iguazú, provincia de Misiones, Argentina subtropical RESUMEN. Se presenta una lista de las fitotelmata más comunes y los Culicidae y Ceratopogonidae que las habitan, del Parque Nacional Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina; además de observaciones biológicas y de comportamiento. Especies de Poaceae, Bromeliaceae, Apiaceae, Araceae, Urticaceae, Marantaceae, y Arecaceae, fueron identificadas como fitotelmata. Fueron reconocidas 26 especies de culícidos y nueve de Ceratopogonidae. La mayor riqueza de especies de culícidos y ceratopogónidos se registraron en el bambú Guadua chacoensis (Poaceae) y en los huecos de los árboles respectivamente. Catorce especies de culícidos y tres de ceratopogónidos habitan bambúes, dos y cinco en los huecos de los árboles, siete y tres en bromelias y nueve y una en otras fitotelmata, respectivamente. PALABRAS CLAVE. Biodiversidad. Insectos acuáticos. Mosquitos. Jejenes. Larvas de Diptera. ABSTRACT. A list of the most common phytotelmata and their Culicidae and Ceratopogonidae inhabitants from Iguazú National Park, Misiones Province, Argentina, is presented, and biological and behavioral observations are also included. Species of Poaceae, Bromeliaceae, Apiaceae, Araceae, Urticaceae, Marantaceae, and Arecaceae, were identified as phytotelmata. Twenty six species of Culicidae and nine of Ceratopogonidae were identified. The highest species richness of culicids and ceratopogonids was recorded from the bamboo Guadua chacoensis (Poaceae) and treeholes, respectively. Fourteen species of Culicidae and three of Ceratopogonidae inhabit bamboo, two and five treeholes, seven and three bromeliads, and nine and one, other less known phytotelmata, respectively. KEY WORDS. Biodiversity. Aquatic insects. Mosquitoes. Gnats. Larvae of Diptera. Recibido: 4-III-2011; aceptado: 18-V-2011 112 Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argent. 70 (1-2): 111-118, 2011 INTRODUCTION invertebrate community and food chains of four species of Eryngium L. phytotelmata. Phytotelmata are aquatic micro- Finally, Montero et al. (2010) studied environments formed by accumulation of whether there are differences in species water in any part of the body of plants such richness, species composition and feeding as leaves, flowers, stems or trunks (Frank guild structure between environments (sun & Lounibos, 1983). The communities of and shade) and micro habitats (among or organisms that live in them are composed on foliage) of bromeliads. Moreover, they mainly of insects, immature stages of studied whether these differences are similar Diptera being dominant (Fish, 1983). The between seasons. fact that phytotelmata are easy to handle The knowledge of Ceratopogonidae small pools of water which allow to design breeding in phytotelmata in Argentina is experiments in natural conditions could scarce, and is mostly limited to isolated account for the various studies carried out citations or descriptions of preimaginal stages on them. Furthermore, some phytotelmata that were found in these habitats. Within the are important habitats that produce haematophagous genus Culicoides Latreille, mosquito vectors of human diseases (Frank Ronderos & Spinelli (1990) recorded adults et al., 1988; O’Meara et al., 1995). The of C. nigrigenus Wirth & Blanton collected phytotelmata of Argentina have not been in A. distichantha in Salta province, and explored in depth, and only a few studies Ronderos & Spinelli (2000) described related to the invertebrate community the immatures of C. bambusicola Lutz living therein have been published. The from internodes of the bamboo Guadua first one was conducted in the subtropical trinii (Nees) Ness ex Ruprecht in northern region of Corrientes province, regarding Corrientes and Misiones provinces, Ronderos the Bromeliaceae Aechmea distichantha et al. (2008) of C. charruus Spinelli & Lemaire (Torales et al., 1972); it described Martínez from Eryngium pandanifolium in the physical and chemical characteristics of Buenos Aires province, and Ronderos et al. water, provided an inventory of invertebrates, (2010) of C. debilipalpis Lutz from treeholes and highlighted the presence of immature in Entre Ríos province. Spinelli & Rodríguez stages of four species of mosquitoes, three of (1999) described Dasyhelea necrophila on Culex L. and one of Phoniomyia Theobald the basis of material collected from flower (nowadays a subgenus of Wyeomyia vases plant-holding containers in La Plata Theobald). The remaining studies were cemetery; the species was found several conducted in temperate areas of Buenos times in other artificial containers, and likely Aires Province: Vucetich & Rossi (1980) breeds in phytotelmata in nature. Nothing is described the chemical characteristics of known about phytotelmatic ceratopogonids water in the axils of Eryngium pandanifolium in Iguazú National Park. Cham & Schltdl. (Apiaceae) and presented a Studies in Argentina are quite limited with list of the micro-organisms collected. Balseiro regard to regions and types of phytotelmata. (1983) made observations on the selectivity In this study, we present a list of phytotelmata of plants as oviposition sites of Culex castroi of Iguazú National Park, located in the Casal & García. Marti et al. (2007) studied subtropical area of Argentina, and its culicid the seasonality of the immature stages of and ceratopogonid inhabitants. the culicid Isostomyia paranensis Brèthes living in the axils of the Cyperaceae Scyrpus giganteus Kunth. Campos & Lounibos (1999) MATERIAL AND METHODS studied the host-plant specificity, seasonality and population dynamics of Culex castroi, A field study was conducted from 2005 Culex hepperi Casal & García, and Culex through 2007 in Iguazú National Park (25º renatoi Lane & Ramalho. In a recent study, 39’ S, 54º 18’ W), a subtropical area of Campos (2010) analyzed the macro- Argentina. The park, in the Paranense forest CAMPOS, R. E. et al. Culicidae and Ceratopogonidae inhabiting phytotelmata 113 ecoregion (Dinerstein et al., 1995), is located Aechmea recurvata (Klotzsch), L. B. in the northern extreme of Misiones Province, Sm.; Billbergia nutans Wendl. ex Regel; separated from Brazil by the Iguazú River. Pseudananas sagenarius (Arruda) Camargo; The topography and drainage pattern of this Vriesea friburgensis Mez. (Bromeliaceae), ecoregion are the typical ones of a basaltic False Caraguatá Eryngium sp. (Apiaceae), plateau, reaching altitudes of 700m. The elephant ear Alocasia odora (Lindl.) Hoch; annual rainfall varies between 1,500 and Philodendron bipinnatifidum Schott ex Endl. 2,000 mm, the dry season takes place in (Araceae); brave nettles Urera baccifera (L.) winter and the rainy season in summer. The Gaudich. Ex Wedd. (Urticaceae); Maranta mean temperature varies between 16ºC in sp. (Marantaceae), and the palmettos winter and 22ºC in summer, and the dominant Euterpe edulis Mart. (Arecaceae) of which P. vegetation is the typical subtropical forest sagenarius and A. odora are introduced. (APN, 2009). Only nine classes of phytotelmata All phytotelmata except bamboos were host immatures of Culicidae and sampled by extracting the fluid contents Ceratopogonidae (Tables I and II). Bamboos, with a pipette attached to a lift pump. After treeholes and floral bracts of Euterpe edulis the first extraction, plants were flushed are woody phytotelmata. E. edulis produces twice with clean tap water, and the aquatic phytotelmata when the bracts fall to the contents extracted with a pipette after each ground. The remaining phytotelmata are wash. Samples from bamboo were taken by herbaceous and belong to Apiaceae, Araceae making a hole with a drill in the middle of and Bromeliaceae. the internodes, and extracting the content No culicids or ceratopogonids were with a tube connected to a lift pump. After collected from the introduced plants the extraction of the sample, the internodes (P. sagenarius and A. odora), or from A. were washed twice with clean water. recurvata, Maranta sp., and U. baccifera. Stumps (internodes opened after the falling Of these plants, four other than U. baccifera of a bamboo) and broken bamboos were hold water in their leaf axils. Urera baccifera sampled with the same tube and lift pump is the least known as phytotelmata. It is a used for internodes. All insects were killed shrub with spiny and hairy stems usually 1 in the field with 70% commercial ethyl to 2 m high (maximum 5m), and a cavity alcohol, and preserved in 80% ethyl alcohol, capable of containing water is formed in the except some immature dipterans which were stems when they break. The hole is small
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