Observações sobre o hábito alimentar de buenoa communis truxal, 1953 (hemiptera: notonectidae) em laboratório do MPEG.

Abstract

The family Notonectidae is represented by aquatic bedbugs that swim with their backs down. They have a wide geographic distribution with four genera known worldwide, of which Buenoa has thirteen species, four of which occur in Pará. The material used for laboratory rearing consisted of specimens of Buenoa communis collected from the Água Preta Lake (1° 28'S and 48° 27'W) in the municipality of Belém, Pará. In the laboratory they were conditioned in 10 X 10 in glass tanks containing one adult individual, protected by naylon mesh and elastic alloy at a temperature of 26°C and RH of 80%. The food offered every twenty-four hours consisted of larvae and pupae of Culex and Sabethini genera captured in natural and artificial breeding sites in the research field of MPEG. It was observed that the preference of B. communis tends to increase gradually in the tanks where Culex larvae are offered. Based on the partial results regarding the feeding habit, we believe that the Buenoa communis are potential predators of disease-transmitting mosquito larvae and can be used as biological controllers.