Ecologia comportamental da mirmecofauna em ambiente hospitalar como subsídios para estratégias de controle

Abstract

Along with the urbanization process, some ant species have found in cities an ideal environment. Among these areas, occurrence in hospitals represents risk due to the transport of pathogenic microorganisms. Many research studies have been carried out in Brazil, and still there are many gaps to explore. Intending to fill some lacks on that knowledge, this work studied the behavioral ecology of hospitals‟ ant fauna. This study is formatted into four chapters: (i) the first chapter aimed to discuss the importance of ants in urban environments, highlighting the process of urbanization and its occurrence, the importance in hospital areas and public health; (ii) the objective of the second chapter was to survey the literature on ants in hospitals in Brazil in the last 20 years, aimed at advancing the knowledge of this issue through a discussion of advances and research priorities; (iii) and (iv) the three and four chapters presented analysis of a set of information on the ecology and behavior of the ant fauna in the hospital, collected over two years of monitoring (2012-2014) in a public hospital located in Juiz de Fora, southeastern Brazil. Samples were taken every two months through non-toxic baits attractive day and night periods and the internal and external areas of the hospital. We found 10342 individuals of 26 species of ants, representing almost all the expected fauna to the site. Pheidole susannae Forel, 1886 was the most abundant species (21.87%) and, together with Tetramorium simillimum (Smith, 1851) was also the most constant (100%). The dominance index found was low (0.1395), stating no dominance for any species. Abundance and richness did not differ between seasons, which is the stability of the ant fauna in the area. There were differences between the abundance for the night period (t = -2.2067, p = 0.038) and also between richness (U = 9.000, p = 0.01) and abundance (U = 70.500, p <0.0001) of species between internal and external areas. The sectors “Casa da Gestante, “Recepção” and “UTI Neo Natal” were more similar in terms of fauna found in the internal and external area. The infestation index was 48.87%, higher than at night and in the outdoor area and the species P. susannae had the highest index. We found 25 nests on three substrates: fissure in masonry (80%), wood (12%) and sewer pipe (8%). The finding of greater abundance at nighttime reinforces the need of monitoring in such time, since some species are exclusively nocturnal. The infestation of some species in the inner hospital area confirms the concerns with the possibility of pathogenic microorganism transporting. In addition, the register of nesting inside the hospital increases the need of establishing alternative pest control strategies. Therewith, health professionals and pest control service providers will be better guided to reduce ant infestations in those environments, since better control strategies may be implemented.