RCAAP Repository

Descriptions of larval and pupal stages of Psylotoxus melanospidus Giacomel, 1991 are given. A short account on the biology of species growing in Bauhinia (Leguminosae), is also included.

A concise description and a latitudinal distribution to South Brazil of Calappa sulcata are presented.

Studies on the growth of the blue crab C. danae were carried out by the analysis of size-frequency distributions, and the growth curves were determined for both sexes through Bertalanffy equation. 613 males and 511 females were obtained from 10 collecting sites of the lagoon, at night, monthly from January/88 to July/89. The growth curves in carapace width were described according to the following equations: Wid∞ = 14.0 (1-e-0,6975.t) for males and Wid∞ = 13.3 (1-e-0,6555.t) for females. The growth curves in body weigth were also determined, based on the equations of the growth curves and the relationship between body weight and carapace width. The equations are:Wt = 156.9 (1-e-0,6975.t)2.9153 for males, Wt = 134.0(1-e-0.6555.t)2.8994 for females.

The genus Megabahita Linnavuori & DeLong, 1978 is redefined based on the type species, M. irrorata (Osborn, 1923). A checklist is added and three new species are described: M. mineira sp.n., M. danunciae sp.n. and M. spatulata sp.n., all from Brazil.

A list of Butterflies threatened with extinction in Paraná is presented. It includedes 17 specimens with geographic distribution, brief description, habitat and behaviour.

Histological changes in the oocyte development of South American lungfish are described. During maturation, pre-vitellogenic and vitellogenic phases could be distinguished, and they are similar to those of teleost fishes.

No summary/description provided

The female of Onega bracteata Young, 1977 is described by once first. The specimen was colleting in Peru.

Data on relative importance of rare and common bee species in some holarctic and neotropical limited sites are presented. The density distribution patterns in samples from all analyzed assemblages is characterized by a relatively large number of species represented by few individuals and few species with large number of individuals, as in most animal communities.

Seventeen clones of Rhopalosiphum padi (Linnaeus, 1758), 14 of R. maidis (Fitch, 1856), and two of R. insertum (Walker, 1849), representing a wide range of host plants and geographic distribution, were examined electrophoretically to determine intra and interspecific variation. Twenty-one enzyme systems were tested using starch-gel techniques. The electromorph variation within species was low, as expected for parthenogenetic organisms. Frequency of heterozygotes was also relatively low for most populations. The percentage of polymorphic loci ranged from 0% to 27.3% in R. padi, but it was lower (0% to 18.2%) in the completely an holocyclic R. maidis. No consistent correlation between band patterns and host plant or geographic origin could be established for R. padi and R. maidis. The distinction between R. padi and R. insertum was made by Est-1, Lap-2, Pgm, Got-1,and α-gpdh.The enzymes Est-2, G-3pdh, Sdh, and Got-2 were useful to separate R. maidis from R. padi, while Est-1, Lap-2, Got-1, and α-gpdh, in addition to the first three mentioned above, separated R. maidis from R. insertum. However, many other loci shared only one electromorph and had another that was useful to partially distinguish the species. The utilization of starch-gel electrophoresis as a taxonomic tool in distinguishing populations and species of aphids and its combination with other taxonomic methods are briefly discussed.

Oxaea mourei, sp.n is described, from Paraná State, Brazil. This new species is most closely related to O. schwarzi. They may be easily distinguished from each other since the hairs in O. mourei are yellow-golden while those of O. schwarzi are mostly black. The eyes of the male in O. schwarzi are strongly convergent above and those of O. mourei are weakly diverging above.

Adult, larva and pupa of Calyplocephala paralutea, a new species of Cassidinae, Spilophorini (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae), from Porto Platon, Amapá, Brazil, is described.

The estimate for the average fecundity for the C. danae population of Lagoa da Conceição (Florianópolis, Santa Catarina) was of 598.885 eggs by female. The average number of eggs and the weight of the mass of eggs, in general, increase with the female size. The variation in colour and in the diameter of the eggs is associated with the degree of development of the embryo.

The C. danae females were collected monthly, within the period of April/91 to March/92. The monthly average variation of the condition factor (Ø1), is associated, among other causes, to both the weight of the gonads (Ø3) and the stomach (Ø2). The difference between Ø1 and Ø3 (ΔØ) estimates the "gonadal condition" showing highest values on the reproductive cycle (May, November, January and March). These months coincide with the highest values of the gonadossomatic index. So can be used as an indicative of the period of spawning of Callinectes danae in Lagoa da Conceição, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

The possible dissimilitudes relating to the duration of the egg incubation period and larval stage of Cochliomyia macellaria (Fab., 1775) from offsprings of females from larvae with and without pigmentation on Malpighi tubules, morphotype 1 and 2, respectively, was questioned. The experiment was conducted in climatized chamber regulated at 30ºC, 65±10% RH and 14 hour photophase. No significant difference was observed on average duration of first and second larval instars berween the two morphotypes, taking into account not only the conventional interpretation for the reading of different development phases of the larval stages (morphotype 1:11.0 and 11.9 hours and morphotype 2:11.7 and 12.7 hours for first and second instars, respectively), but also the reading made through the interpretation preconized by Snodgrass & Hinton (morphotype 1:10.3 and 9.6 hours and morphotype 2:9.8 and 10.8 hours for the first and second instars, respectively). The incubation period was significantly longer for eggs posited by females from non-pigmented larvae.

Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy technics were aplied in order to describe, for the first time, the immature stages of Z. beaumonti Casey, 1899 reared on it's prey, Diaspis echinocacti (Bouché, 1833) (Homoptera, Diaspididae), the unique pest of Opuntia ficus-lndica Mill and Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dick (prickly-pear, Cactaceae), an impportant alternative food source for the cattle on drought áreas of Northeast of Brazil. Yellow eggs layed inside the scales, caraboid larvae without wax processes and pupae partially protected by the last exuvia presented the Scymninae pattern.

An alternative proposition for the analysis of the diagnostic states of the pronotum in the Centrotinae and Membracinae (sensu Strümpel) is presented. In this analysis, a linear transformation series is proposed for this character, departing from the state found in Tolania Stal, 1858 changing to an intermediate state in Centrotinae, which is still treated as plesiomorphic when compared with the one found in Membracinae. The transformation series thus defined, clarifies the problems related to the monophyly of the Membracidae, which is herein supported by the state of pronotum previously used to define the Centrotinae. This later taxon is treated as paraphyletic. The monophyly of the Membracinae is unquestioned, but its sister group is still unknown. Finally, this analysis permitted the reinterpretation of several characters, previously treated as homoplasies, now as synapomorphies.

The contribution of the Franciscan priest Francisco dos Prazeres to our knowledge of the natural history, geography, history and ethnography of Maranhão in the early XIXth Century appeared in the Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geographico do Brazil in 1891. The original manuscript was donated to the Instituto's library in 1843, and disapeared. The printed text was a copy, without the orignal map, donated by Colonel Francisco Manoel da Cunha Júnior. Fray Francisco was a corresponding member, and a better historian and geographer than a zoologist. This paper summarizes the available information on the zoological expeditions that explored Maranhão. A list of all mammals described in the Poranduba Maranhense is provided, followed by the identification of the species.

The length of the entire egg, micropile and vitellus regions of Anastrepha obliqua Macquart, 1835 were measured during all opposition period. Obtained values were compared among them and with oviposition rate. The smallest eggs were produced during the first 35 oviposition days, period where the highest oviposition rate occured. The decrease in egg length was found to be due to a descrease in the vitellus region. Micropile length was found to be pratically constant throughout oviposition. Furthermore, no relationship between maternal age and length was detectable.

The outcome of a wild bee fauna survey in a secondary forest is reported. Sampling was carried out mainly on herbaceous and shrubby vegetation under and at the border of the forest. Results are compared with data collected with the same methodology from a previously surveyed grassland nearby. The secondary forest was richer in Anthophoridae and Apidae species, and less diverse in Megachilidae. Similarity between the two habitats was low. Several unidentified species of Ceratinula, Trichocerapis mirabilis and the stingless bees Melipona bicolor, M. quadrifasciata, M. marginata, Paratrigona subnuda, Scaptotrigona tubiba and S. xanthotricha, are among the species dependent on the forest environment to survive. Bee population densities in the forest understory are as large as the largest values found for open vegetation in Southeastern Brazil; species richness is also comparable to those of other areas in Southeastern Brazil. Sampling strategies are discussed.