STUDIES ON MOSQUITOS (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE) AND ANTHROPIC ENVIRONMENT .9. SYNANTHROPY AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC VECTOR ROLE OF AEDES-SCAPULARIS IN SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL

Behaviour comparisons of Aedes scapularis and Ae. serratus are present ed. Results were obtained by sampling Aedes adult mosquitoes at severa l places in the rural anthropic environment in the Ribeira Valley regi on of S. Paulo State, Brazil. Aedes dominance was shared by those two species, but Ae. scapularis showed a clear tendency to frequent the mo dified environment, while Ae. serratus was to be found in the more pre served ones, here represented by the vestigial patchy forests. Regardi ng the open cultivated land and the dwelling environments, Ae, scapula ris preponderates. Considering the regional developmental phases, this mosquito showed a remarkable increase in the modified environment dif ferently from Ae. serratus that underwent a considerable decrease in m igrating from the forest to the anthropic environment. As a consequenc e of these results it is reasonable to conclude that Ae. scapularis ma y be considered as an epidemiologically efficient vector and that it q uite probably played this role in the Rocio encephalitis and other arb ovirus epidemics.