FAUNAL COMPOSITION AND BEHAVIOR OF ANOPHELINE MOSQUITOS IN THE XAVANTE INDIAN RESERVATION OF PIMENTEL-BARBOSA, CENTRAL BRAZIL

Faunal composition and behavior of anopheline mosquitoes were studied in a Xavante Indian reservation of Central Brazil. Altogether 558 anop helines were collected in three environments (intra, peri, and extra-d omiciliary). Anopheles darlingi (30.9 %), An. triannulatus s.l. (24.6 %) and An. oswaldoi (19.7 %) were the most common species. Average cap ture tales were higher in the rainy season (8.03 per hour) than in the dry season (4.37 per hour). Anophelines exhibited exophilic behavior almost exclusively. It was observed that Xavante cultural practices fa cilitate outdoor exposure during peak hours of mosquito activities (e. g., coming to the creek early in the morning for bathing or to draw w ater, fishing, etc.). The results of this study raise the question of whether or not applying to the Xavante the more commonly recommended m alaria control strategies (e. g., in-house spraying, screening windows , and impregnated bed nets) which aim at hampering human-mosquito cont act inside human dwelings may be effective.