Field-collected gravid females were used to test a series of inter- and intraspecific hypotheses on egg size and number in 23 species of black flies. Qualitative differences between bird and mammal blood did not result in significant differences with respect to fecundity properties. The five species with overwintering larvae produced more eggs than did the 18 species with overwintering eggs. Co...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108927.].

The effectiveness of the MosqTent® trap was evaluated in endemic area to onchocerciasis in Brazil. This study seeks to provide subsidies for the monitoring of the onchocerciasis transmission in the country. The study was carried out at the Homoxi and Thirei villages, located in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in the state of Roraima. This area presents hyperendemicity, high blackflies densities, ...

Simulium (Nevermannia) maeaiensesp. n. is described on the basis of female, male, pupal and larval specimens collected from Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. This species is assigned to the feuerborni species-group of the subgenus Simulium (Nevermannia), and is distinctive among this species-group in having the female cibarium furnished with numerous dark minute conical processes on the lower part...

A revision is made of the previously poorly studied blackfly fauna from the south-western border of Guyana with Brazil. Notes on the biosystematics of the species found are provided, together with keys and illustrations based on their morphology. Of the 14 species recorded, eight are anthropophilic and two of these (Simulium oyapockense s.l. and S. guianense s.l.) are proven vectors of human on...

The ovarian oil injection and ovariolar separation techniques were applied to determine the physiological age of species of the 3 dipteran families Culicidae, Simuliidae, and Tabanidae. The presence of a granular basal body (a granular area in the calyx wall within the ovariolar sheath) indicates at least 1 egg laying; that is, it can be used to separate parous from nulliparous females, which p...

Blood-feeding blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) transmit pathogens, harass vertebrate hosts and may cause lethal injuries in attacked victims, but with traditional methods it has proved difficult to identify their hosts. By matching mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences in blood collected from engorged blackflies with stored sequences in the GenBank database, relationships between 17 blackfly spec...

According to Adler and Crosskey (2011), three genera of Simuliidae occur in Brazil: Araucnephia Wygodzinsky & Coscarón, Lutzsimulium d’Andretta & d’Andretta (2 subgenera) and Simulium Latreille (8 subgenera). The subgenus Simulium (Chirostilbia) is represented by 13 species, all of which are found in Brazil, including one economically important species, the pest Simulium pertinax Kollar. Six sp...