Ecologia de comunidades de insetos aquáticos dos afluentes do médio rio Araguaia em Goiás, Brasil

Abstract

Studies on the biodiversity of the Cerrado has focused on vertebrate animals and plants, but there are few studies on aquatic insects in Goiás, more specifically in the basin of the Araguaia River. This study aims to compare the assemblages of insects among the sampled water courses and determine which the insect-substrate patterns are. Samples were taken in 24 sampling points distributed in 11 rivers and one tributary (stream). It was collected 11,759 insects distributed in 42 families and nine orders. The ecological descriptors used indicated significant differences among the river aquatic insects assemblages that seems related to its location in environments rich in organic matter, such as the water courses located in the Middle Araguaia floodplain, or in a local submitted to anthropogenic interferences. The larvae of the Chironomidae and Ceratopogonidae family are associated with a substrate composed by leaves and it is explained by the use of this substrate as insect food source. The Simuliidae and Coenagrionidae display preference for substrates of pebbles, which seem to be related to dietary habits and ecological aspects.