Caracterização de populações de 2014É expressamente proibida a comercialização deste documento tanto na sua forma impressa como eletrônica. Sua reprodução total ou parcial é permitida exclusivamente para fins acadêmicos e científicos, desde que na reprodução figure a identificação do autor, título, instituição e ano da tese. À minha mãe pelo amor e dedicação, ao meu pai e ao meu irmão, meus biólogos queridos, pelos ensinamentos e apoio. usquatus was recorded only in Central and South America. Therefore, these species are sympatric in Brazil. Despite the morphological similarity of the females of both species, only Cx. coronator has epidemiological importance, being found infected with many arboviruses. Since studies focusing in population structure are important to understand the evolution and dynamics of potencial vectors and that the correct female identification is critical for development of vectorial competence studies, the aims of this study were to: (1) distinguish adult females of Cx. coronator from Cx. usquatus (2) obtain knowledge of the population structure of Culex coronator in Southern and Southeastern areas (3) examine the presence of undescribed and/or incorrectly identified species under Cx. coronator. Thereby, a survey was carried out using morphological (wing geometry) and genetic (4 microsatellite loci and barcode region of the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene) markers. Results showed genetic and morphological diversity of southeastern populations, with low population structure, while southern populations were more homogenous but different from those of Southeast Brazil. Thus, analysis of microsatellite and wing morphometry showed some populational structure according to South DEDICO AGRADECIMENTOS

Species of the genus Culex Linnaeus mosquitoes have been pointed out as the main vectors of lymphatic filariases. Furthermore, they are important vectors of encephalitis across the world, including the West Nile Virus. Although being the major genus in Culicidae family, with 763 valid species, Culex, in a taxonomic and phylogenetic sense, is one of the least known. Considering the great diversity of species of mosquitoes in this genus, and the fact that females of several species are vary similar morphologically, the present study aimed to: (1) Solve problems related to nomenclature (2) estimate the phylogenetic relationships of species used in the work; (3) examine the monophyly of subgenera of the Neotropical Region; (4) estimate the evolutionary relationships between neotropical subgenera; (5) estimate the phylogenetic position of the genus Lutzia in the Culex, (6) discuss the use of the gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) to the genus Culex. We analyzed sequences corresponding to a fragment of 478 base pairs of the COI gene of 36 individuals belonging to 16 species of the genus Culex. Species were evaluated in four subgenera, Culex, Phenacomyia, Melanoconion and Microculex and one species of the genus Lutzia. The COI gene sequences were compared using analysis of Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian. The results of the analysis of the COI sequences, used the model of Kimura 2-parameters of Culex dolosus, Culex mollis and Culex imitator, demonstrate the presence of high intraspecific divergence (3.1%, 2.3% and 3.5% respectively). These values indicate that these taxa may represent complexes of species. The topologies of ML, MP and Bayesian showed that both genus Culex as subgenus Culex are paraphyletic because the first does not include the genus Lutzia and the second excludes the Phenacomyia subgenus. The results indicate that Lutzia is a subgenus of Culex and Phenacomyia is a monophyletic group of subgenus Culex. The molecular marker COI was easy to use and analyzing, proving to be useful tool for phylogenetic studies and the molecular taxonomy of Culex.