Repositório RCAAP

Description of the fifth larval instar and pupa of Caligo martia (Godart, [1824]) from material reared in southern Brasil are described and illustrated. The larvae feed on two species of Cyperaceae. The Caterpillar and pupa appearences are compared with others Caligo species.

The zoogeographical distribution of 42 cicadellid subfamilies and their assigned tribes and genera is compiled with distributional maps and proposed dispersal pathways of genera that are shared interzoogeographically. Possible origin of the subfamilies and tribes is proposed in an ancestral context from which the more modern extant groups evolved whereas origin of genera is in a more modern context. Notwithstanding their complex biogeography, the distributional data of the higher groups indicate that all of the cosmopolitan and near cosmopolitan subfamilies arose during early Cretaceous or possibly the late Jurassic period (140-116 m.y.a.) when continental drift was in its early stages. Nearly all of the New World and some Old World subfamilies are considered of more recent origin (late Cretaceous-Tertiary). Ninety percent of the known genera (2,126) are endemic to their respective zoogeographical region and subregion, thus indicating relatively high host specificity and low rate of dispersal. The majority (76%) of known extant genera are pantropical in origin, suggesting early or possible Gondwanaland origin of their ancestors. Dispersal pathways of genera shared by more than one zoogeographical region were generally south to north (Neotropical/Nearctic, Oriental/Palaearctic) or west to east (Palaearctic/Nearctic, Oriental/Australian), from regions of high diversity to regions of low diversity and from warmer climates to cooler climates. The most diverse and richest leafhopper fauna are present in the Neotropical and Ethiopian regions although taxal affinities between them are poorest. The most depauperate fauna are in the Nearctic region and in Australia, reflecting the impact of isolating and ecological factors on distribution and radiation. Ecological barriers were more evident between the Ethiopian and Oriental fauna than between any other zoogeographical combination. Taxal affinities appeared to be correlated with close continental proximities. Vicariance (physical) was the principal event that appealed to explain the distribution of many subfamilies and tribes whereas dispersal accounted for distribution of the majority of interzoogeographical genera.

This paper reports twenty eight acarine species belonging to twenty four genera in eleven families, associated with rubber trees, Hevea spp. (Euphorbiaceae), from Brazil. A key to the genera and species is included.

The pampas deer, Ozotoceros bezoarticus (Linnaeus, 1758) was studied between August 1996 and September 1997 at Fazenda Santa Maria (25º34' and 25º36'S, 49º46'and 49º49'W) at Lapa, Paraná State. During that period we have collected information on feeding habits, group composition, time of the year for birth of youngsters and time for antlers change. The presence of the animal in the area was confirmed by the finding of vestiges and visual occurrences. Animais were observed feeding on young leaves of soya been (Glicine max), oat (Avenasaliva), ryegrass (Lolium mulliflorum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare). Only one female was observed feeding on dry leaves. A stag was observed feeding on a barley ear. Group's average size was 1.5 individual. Stags/female proportion was 1: 0.96. Animais displaying velvet coated antlers were observed in June and July which is in accordance with literature about antlers change in a definite period restricted to winter. Only one youngster was observed in September 1996. It is believed that the species survive in the region despite human activities through adaptation of feeding habits with the introduction of agricultura! species. This population could disappear in a few years because of the small number of individuais and their isolation.

The analysis of field notes of specimens conserved in museums, specimens labels, informations from bibliography and field observations by the author permited the identification of two áreas (Teresópolis and Serra da Bocaina, in the Serra do Mar, states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, respectivelly) where specimens of Phaenomys ferrugineus (Thomas, 1894) have been collected in the past. The species is endemic to South Eastern Brazil and has not been collected for more than fifty years.

Pseudonannolene mesai sp.n. from Biritiba Mirim, State of São Paulo, Brazil, is described and the chromosome number (2n=16) is reported. It was impossible to observe the chromosomal sex determination mechanism.

The proventriculus morphology of the cricket Gryllus assimilis Fabricius, 1775 is described using scanning electron microscopy and the correlation of this structure with the feeding habits briefly considered.

Forty six beetles Scotocryptus melitophilus Reitter, 1881 collected in a nest of Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier, 1836 were studied. All beetles were put together in a large petri dish with 14 males, 14 virgin queens and 14 workers of M. quadrifasciata, which was not aggressive towards the S. melitophilus and flew with 3 to 10 beetles attached to them. When groups of 20 workers, 20 males and 20 virgin queens were put separately in three petri dishes, the workers become attractive to beetles after they were seven days old, while the males after the 19 days old. Only one virgin queen five days old attracted one beetle. The anatomic parts of the workers bees more attractive to the beetles when smeared to a filter paper were the head (32%), abdomen (29%) and legs (29%). The part of the workers bees that less attracted the beetles was the thorax (10%). 5. melitophilus, both males and females, are able to distinguish caste, sex and age differences of their host M. quadrifasciata, what can increase the adaptive value of the beetles involved in phoretic behavior.

The digestive tube of workers of Heterotermes tenuis (Hagen, 1858) e Coptotermes havilandi Holmgren, 1911 was analysed under the anatomical view. The digestive tube of both species did not show conspicuous diferences in relation to the morphology, morphometry and the configuration of the digestive tube that were the aspects studied. The general organization of the digestive tube of these species show several similarity with other lower termites previously analysed.

The Lagoa do Peixe ("Peixe's Lagoon") is located between Atlantic Ocean and Lagoa dos Patos and is 30 Km long and 0,5-2,0 Km wide (31º13'S, 50º55'W -31º26'S, 51º09'). For one year, the composition and distribution of Crustácea Decapoda were analyzed monthly (from July/1994 to June/1995), in seven subareas (terrestrial border and aquatic area) and physical and chemical parameters (depth, salinity, sediment texture, oxygen in water, organic material of sediment and water temperature) were registered. Decapoda from the families Grapsidae, Ocypodidae, Portunidae (Brachyura), Diogenidae (Anomura) and Penaeidae (Penaeidea) were captured. Chasmagnathus granulata Dana 1851 was found ali months near the canal connecting Atlantic Ocean and Lagoa do Peixe, but inside the lagoon it was collected only in October/94 and June/95, and in extreme subareas it was sampled in February/95 when the salinity was 31 ‰ at these sites. Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 and Cyrtograpsus angulatus Dana, 1851 were captured throughout the year, except October/94 and April/95, respectively. Both species were found in ali áreas of sample, indicating a high plasticity in relation to the factors analyzed in this study. Another species captured probably come in the lagoon in specific months, when the environment provides ideal conditions for their develo-pments.

A specimen of Enyalius perditus Jackson, 1978 collected in a pitfall trap installed at the Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca, Municipality of Lima Duarte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on 19 March 1997, showed a transversal rupture of the skin, on dorsum of posterior region of the head, just joining the ear openings. In captivity, the continuance of the shedding scain spent approxima-tely one hour and forty minutes. The pieces of skin were removed in the sequence: head, venter, arms and flanks, legs, tail, and finally the tip of the fingers. The removed skin was eaten at the end of each stage.

A monthly quantitative study on B. platycnemis (Fieber, 1851) was carried out in a sand dune marsh, on the littoral of Rio Janeiro State. The aims of this study were to correlate the life cycle of the species with the seasonal regime of the water body, defining steps of the annual cycle, age strueture, and to indicate oviposition sites and trophic relations. The species shows a marked seasonal tendency. The major steps of the life cycle obtained were an invernal (weak) with a predominance of imagines, followed by another of population expansion, characterized by the absence of adults, massive eclosions and predominance of low instar nymphs. Probably, B. platycnemis has a sensibility to water levei variation and might be intluenced by the concentration of Spirogyra sp. (Chlorophyceae) in the water column. In relation to oviposition, B. platycnemis has not shown preference for any macrophyte, since eggs were found in Rhynchosphora corymbosa (Linnaeus) Britton (Cyperaceae), Eleocharis sellowiana Kunth. (Cyperaceae) and Nymphoides indica (Linnaeus) O. Kuntze. (Menyanthaceae). The observed predators of B. platycnemis were Anax amazilli (Burmeister, 1839) (Aeshinidae), Eryihemis crédula (Hagen, 1861) (Libellulidae) and other Odonata, nymphs and adults of Belostoma candidulum Montandon, 1903 (Belostomatidae), Notonecta (Paranecta) disturbata Hungerford, 1926, Buenoa antigone antigone (Ki-rkaldy, 1899) (Notonectidae), besides Curicta cf. tibialis (Martin, 1898) and Ranatra horvalhi Montandon, 1910 (Nepidae). Larvae of Sayomyia sp. (Chaoboridae), Chiro-nomus spp. and Labrundinia sp. (Chironomidae), Callibaetis gutlatus Navás, 1915 (Baetidae), cladocerans and copepods are potential prey of B. platycnemis, while ostracodes were refused.

The Atlantic Forest small mammal land fauna, except bats, and the abiotic factors that might have an influence on its composition, were studied in the Itapevi County, State of Sao Paulo, a forested region, partly altered by antropic action, from January, 1995 to June, 1996. The trapping effort consisted of 2,888 trap-nights, resulting in a 4.6% trapping success and consisted of monthly trappings, for five consecutive days. During this period, 134 specimens were captured, of which 46.3% were Didelphimorphia and 53.7% were Rodentia. Eleven species were registered: two Didelphimorphia: Didelphis marsupialis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Marmosops incanus (Lund, 1841), and nine Rodentia: Akodon cursor (Winge, 1887), Bolomys lasiurus (Lund, 1841), Oxymycterus hispidus Pictet, 1843, Oxymycterus nasutus (Waterhouse, 1837), Oligoryzomys nigripes (Olfers, 1818), Oryzomys angouya (Fischer, 1814), Raltus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769), Euryzygomatomys spinosus (G. Fischer, 1814) and Cavia aperea Erxleben, 1777. The relative density indices were correlated with meteorological data by Spearman and Pearson coefficients. For marsupials these correlations were not significant. For rodents, the correlations were significant and directly related to lower temperature and rainfall indices (p<0.05). During the dry season the occurrence of small mammals was 50% greater than during the wet season, probably due to foraging strategies in the studied fragment of Atlantic Forest.

A year-long beach seine survey at the continental margin of Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, catching mainly young-of-the-year and juvenile fishes was carried out from July 1983 to June 1984, in order to describe the community structure and their spatial and seasonal variations. Fifty-five monthly samplied carried out in five sites in the marginal surf zone waters yielded 11,463 fishes in 82 species, 59 genera and 31 families. Gerreidae, Engraulidi-dae, Atherinidae and Ariidae families amounted 87.01% of the total catch in number, and 81% in weight. Cerres aprion Cuvier, 1829, Anchoa januaria (Steindachner, 1879), Anchoviella lepidentostole (Fowler, 1911), Atherinella brasiliensis (Quoy &amp; Gaimard, 1824) and Neluma barba (Lacépède, 1803) were the most numerous species, each one contributing more the 4% of total catch. Overall, both spatial and seasonal changes in fish were not evident although most individuais were more abundant in the outer Bay. The high number of fish species in this area, suggest the important role played by the Sepetiba Bay in the fish community to where many species probably migrate from the nearby sea and stay in the Bay during part of their life cycle. Decreasing diversity and high dominance of a few number of species seem to indicated a trend of environmental deterioration in the Sepetiba Bay over the last decade, as this date are compared whith similar sampling program carried out in 1993/94. It same to indicated that changes in fish populations which use this area as rearing grounds, occurred during their early life history.

Spatial distribution of birds was studied in 10 ha forest fragment at Londrina State University, southem Brazil (23º15'S, 51º10'W). Five habitats were categorized in the forest fragment: four related to the edges and one related to the forest interior. A line transect, crossing ali these habitats, was used to identify the bird species one day each two weeks from September 1996 to September 1997 totaling 57 days of samplings. The forest was divided into three leveis: understory (bellow 3 m), mid-levels (3-7 m) and canopy (above 7 m). Occurrence frequencies in each habitat and each forest levei were calculated for each of the 62 species identified during the field work. The number of species in each levei was similar (43 species in the understory, 42 at mid-levels and 40 in the canopy). Edges had higher number of species (51, 46, 33 and 30 species) and most of them with more than 50% of occurrence frequency. By contrast, forest had the lowest number of bird species (29 species), 80% of them with less than 50% of occurrence frequency, what suggest that the edge effect is strong on this forest fragment.

The mean values of hepatosomatic relation (HSR), splenosomatic relation (SSR) and relative condition factor (Kn) in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis nilolicus Trewavas, 1983); pacu (Piaractus mesopolamicus Holmberg, 1887); piauçu (Lepori-nus macrocephalus Garavello &amp; Britski, 1988) and tambacu hybrid (P. mesopotamicus male x Colossoma macropomum Cuvier, 1818 female) are described. The experiment was carried out from feefishing farm situated in Franca, São Paulo State, Brazil. Nile tilapia showed the greatest HSR compared to pacu, piauçu and tambacu. Although, in the last three fishes the relation was similar. The SSR between tilapia and piausu was similar, but smaller than observed in pacu and tambacu. Nevertheless, SSR in pacu and tambacu was different. The hepatic weight/body weigth relation and hepatic weight/body length relation presented positive correlation in ali studied fishes. The splenic weight/body weigth relation and splenic weight/body length relation were not significam (P>0.05) in Nile tilapia, pacu and tambacu, but highly significant in piauçu (PO.01).

During one year of the project called "Survey of the Entomological Fauna in Paraná State" (henceforth PROFAUPAR), 126,340 adult specimens of Trichoptera were collected with light trap. The individuais of the family Hydropsychidae were identified and a list of species is presented. Eighteen species in four genera were identified. From this, S. (R.) discalis Flint, 1972,5. (R.) paramnsis Flint, 1983;S (R.) spinulosa Flint, 1972 are for the first time registered for Brazil and Leptonema sparsum (Ulmer, 1905), Macrostemum hyalinum (Pictet, 1836), S. (Smicridea) albosignata Ulmer, 1907; S. (Rhyacophylax) dentifera Flint, 1983; S. (R.) iguazu Flint, 1983; S. (R.) piraya Flint, 1983; S. (R.) unguiculaia Flint, 1983; S. (R.) vermiculata Flint, 1978 and S. (R.) weidneri Flint, 1972, for Paraná State. Discussion about the individuais abundance and species seasonality is presented.

The genus Harmonides Kirkaldy, 1902 is revised. The following species are treated: Harmonides dispar (Fabricius, 1803) (= Boethoos glohosa Haviland, 1925, syn.n.; = Vanduzea [sic] decorata Funkhouser, 1940, syn.n.); Harmonides reticulata (Fabricius, 1803) (= Vanduzea [sic] testudinea Haviland, 1925, syn.n.); Harmonides panamensis, sp.n. (Panama); Harmonides elongata, sp.n. (Brazil, Mato Grosso).

Amorphological study of the immature stages of Eupalea reinhardti Crotch, 1874 is presented. Morphological information is discussed and biological data are included. The immature stages are compared with those of other genera of Coccinellidae.

Seven new species here described and illustra-ted are: Amblycerus spinigersp.n. from Pará, Amazonas, Rondônia and Espírito Santo; A. decoris sp.n. and A. manauara sp.n. from Amazonas; A. sclerolobii sp.n. from Amazonas and Minas Gerais; A. profaupar sp.n. from São Paulo, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul; A. maculicollis sp.n. from Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul; A. pusillus sp.n. from Mato Grosso and Paraná.