J. Manzanilla-Puppo
, O. Villarreal, O. Hernández
Instituto de Zoología Agrícola, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Aptdo. 4579, Maracay, 2101-A, Estado Aragua, Venezuela.
The Venezuelan scorpiofauna is well known from the taxonomic point of view. One hundred species have been recorded to date. However, in spite of the great importance of scorpions as components of the bio-diversity and their importance as a public health problem in some regions of the country, little is known about their ecology and biology. An inventory and evaluation of the fauna in the "Costa" mountains was carried out by researchers from the Institute of Agricultural Zoology, Agronomy Faculty of the Central University of Venezuela. A study was conducted of the terrestrial vertebrate and invertebrate communities of the epigeic stratum in four different environments within the boundaries of the Henri Pittier National Park: a) Deciduous Foothill Tropophilic Forest and b) Riverside Forest (both on the northern slope of the National Park around La Trilla, between 160 and 300 meters above sea level), c) Deciduous Foothill Tropophilic Forest, and d) Riverside Forest (both on the southern slope of the National Park in the river Güey valley between 450 and 500 meters above the sea level). Forty falling traps with derivation corridors were distributed evenly throughout the different environments over 11 consecutive months. Additional information was obtained over restricted time transects using rising quadrates in two additional localities of Submountainous Umbrophilic Forest and Mountainous Evergreen Forest: e) Rancho Grande at 1100 m, and f) Loma de Hierro at 1000 m. Partial results related to the scorpion component are shown. A total of 78 specimens belonging to 6 species and 4 genera were captured during the sampling period in the localities a-d. The highest relative abundance was found in the Deciduous Foothill Tropophilic Forest of the southern slope, while the highest diversity was found in the Riverside Forest of the northern slope. Ananteris cussini was the only species present in all the sampled localities and was the predominant species in the low regions of the southern slope. In contrast, in the low regions of the northern slope equal numbers of the genera Tityus, Mesotityus, and Ananteris were seen. The highest capture rates for every region were recorded during the dry season. The relationship between the composition of the scorpiofauna in the forests studied based on the values obtained for the indices of similarity for both slopes of the National Park shows the interaction of biogeographic and ecological factors that deserve a detailed interpretation. The species Eleutherodactylus maussi (Anura: Leptodactylidae), a frog of the epigeic stratum of the Submountainous Umbrophilic Forest and the Mountainous Evergreen Forest, was shown to eat predominantly cryptotoxic and phanerotoxic animals including scorpions. These different species showed a different coloration depending on the region they inhabited.
This study was partially financed by FUNDACITE-Aragua, Projects PA93AM01 and PAMO03 with the support of the Institute of Agricultural Zoology and the Biological Station "Dr. Alberto Fernández Yépez", Agronomy Faculty, Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
16 Apr 1999 -
Date of issue
1999
