Demands and perspectives to acarology in Brazil

portuguesSao escassos os relatos cientificos sobre demandas de pesquisa e perspectivas para a Acarologia no Brasil. Nesse trabalho, objetivou-se prospectar e caracterizar os estudos em acarologia ja realizados e identificar as principais demandas presentes e futuras em pesquisas em acarologia no Brasil. Para alcancar tais objetivos, realizaram-se revisoes bibliograficas das obras publicadas entre 1996 a 2006 e organizou-se o I Simposio Brasileiro de Acarologia. Os estudos com acaros de interesse medico-veterinario e agricola compoem o maior numero de artigos publicados, com destaque para as familias Ixodidae, Tetranychidae e Phytoseiidae. Esses estudos foram realizados, principalmente, na regiao Sudeste do Brasil. Dentre as principais demandas levantadas, destacaram-se o treinamento de taxonomistas para identificacao de especies de importância agricola e medico-veterinaria, o levantamentos de novas especies de acaros predadores para emprego no controle biologico aplicado, o estudo do papel dos acaros na ciclagem de nutrientes em ecossistemas e a mitigacao dos impactos negativos advindos do uso de acaricidas sinteticos. EnglishScientific papers about research demands and perspectives on acarology in Brazil are scarce. This article aims to prospect and characterize former developed research, as well as identify actual and future demands on research in acarology in Brazil. To achieve these goals, a bibliographic review of papers published between 1996 and 2006 was done and the First Brazilian Symposium of Acarologia was organized. Studies about mites of medicalveterinarian and agricultural represent the majority of the reviewed papers, and the families Ixodidae, Tetranychidae and Phytoseiidae were the most studied. These studies were developed chiefly in the Brazilian Southeast region. Among the main research demands, especial attention was given to the training of taxonomists to identify new important agricultural and medical-veterinary species, the survey of new predatory mites species for biological control, the role of the mites in the nutrients cycling in ecosystems, and the mitigation of the negative impacts cause by synthetic acaricides.