Black fly species and their association with Brazilian biomes

Abstract

The family Simuliidae occurs widely around the globe, except in the Antarctic region, deserts, and islands that lack water streams. Because fresh stream water environments are breeding grounds for their immature forms. This study sought to relate and compare Brazilian biomes based on their simuliid faunas. After gathering information on the distribution patterns of Simuliid species included in the most recent global taxonomic review, a table on their presence in the Brazilian territory was prepared, indicating the regions in which the different species were present in each biome. Subsequently, correspondence and cluster analyses were performed to determine the biomes with which the species were most associated and the similarities of the simuliid faunas among those biomes, respectively. The correspondence analysis showed that most species were predominantly associated with three biomes: The Amazon, Cerrado, and Atlantic Forest, while the cluster analysis showed that the simuliid faunas of the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest are similar and that when taken together, these two biomes are similar to the Amazon biome.