Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Ricardo von Diringshofen (1900–1986) was a Natural History enthusiast who collected an incredible variety of objects, mostly insects, which amount to over 2 million specimens. We present here a brief biography of Ricardo von Diringshofen, including the history of his insect collection and the processes of purchase and incorporation of his collection by the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT A new species, Stenosigma quechua Hermes & Ferreira sp. nov., is described from specimens previously included in the type series of Stenosigma humerale Giordani Soika, 1990. Details on the differences between the two species as well as comments of taxonomic implications are presented.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Two new species of Salina, S. maculiflora sp. nov. from Brazil and S. colombiana sp. nov. from Colombia are described and illustrated. The complete dorsal chaetotaxy, including the specialized chaetae (S-chaeta), is studied in these new species. Comparisons based on the chaetotaxy of the basomedian field, abdomen II, and mucro shape are made between species from groups beta, celebensis, and borneensis. This is the first record of Salina with rectangular mucro (beta group) in South America and a key to the seven Nearctic and Neotropical species is provided.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Triorla Parks has been reported from the Nearctic and Neotropical regions with 10 described species: T. ambigua (Macquart), T. argyrogaster (Macquart), T. demifasciata (Macquart), T. interrupta (Macquart), T. nervosa (Macquart), T. parastriola Pamplona & Aires, T. rubidiventris (Macquart), T. spinosa Tomasovic, T. striola (Fabricius), and T. trichina Tomasovic. Two species, T. striola and T. parastriola, have been recorded from Brazil. This paper describes four new species of Triorla from Brazil: T. beckeri sp. nov., T. milineae sp. nov., T. paraensis sp. nov., and T. spatulata sp. nov., and includes comments on the morphology of T. parastriola. An identification key to the species of Triorla is provided.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT We measured variation and covariation in wing morphology in six populations of the fly Polietina orbitalis (Stein) (Diptera: Muscidae) to test for geographic morphological structure. Additionally, we examined the role of environmental variables in determining geographic variation in wing shape. We sampled five populations in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil (Colombo, Fênix, Guarapuava, Jundiaí do Sul and Ponta Grossa), and one in Paraguay (Mbaracayú). We choose 15 landmarks to describe the wing shape and size and 19 environmental variables to describe the local environmental conditions. Our results showed that P. orbitalis wing shape, but not size, varies geographically. A canonical variate analysis showed the existence of two clusters of populations based on wing shape. These groups compare populations in which the wing is slender with groups in which the wings are broad. These shape differences were correlated with variation in elevation, precipitation and temperature but were not allometric. Taken together, these results suggest that wing shape differences in P. orbitalis populations are due to a plastic response to local environmental conditions.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Sepona Freitas and Barbosa, gen. nov. is proposed for the Neotropical satyrine butterfly species Euptychia punctataWeymer, 1911 and its junior subjective synonyms Euptychia griseolaWeymer, 1911 and Taygetis indecisa Ribeiro, 1931. The new genus has a distinctive wing pattern and shape of the valvae in the male genitalia, the latter being a unique autapomorphy within the subtribe Euptychiina. Based on molecular data, this genus is not sister to any other single euptychiine genus, instead appearing as the sister to all remaining genera in the Taygetis clade. The present paper illustrates the complexity of the taxonomy of Euptychiina, and the importance of using different sources of evidence in taxonomic studies.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Despite its important effect on the maintenance of tritrophic interactions among plants, insect herbivores, and ants, there is still a paucity of natural history and basic biology information involving trophobiosis among Heteroptera stink bugs. Here, based on previous observations of a new trophobiotic interaction between Edessa rufomarginata (De Geer, 1773) and Camponotus rufipes (Fabricius, 1775) ants, we describe the chemical profile of the honeydew obtained by Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry. There were mainly three different sugars (trehalose, glucose, and sorbose) within our samples. The extrafloral nectaries of Caryocar brasiliense Camb., the host plant of E. rufomarginata, attracts a wide assemblage of Cerrado ants with varying aggressiveness toward herbivores. Therefore, this facultative trophobiotic interaction may allow the survival of the stink bug while feeding on the risky, highly ant-visited plant. Given the rarity of trophobiotic interactions between Pentatomidae species and ants and considering a zoological perspective within this family, here we discuss the ecological and evolutionary routes that may allow the rise of these interactions.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Solitary wasps and bees (Hymenoptera) play a key role in ecosystem and agroecosystem functioning. Crops may benefit from biological pest control and pollination carried out by predatory solitary wasps and solitary bees, respectively. Here, we aimed at evaluating the abundance and faunistic compositions of solitary wasps and bees in respect to land-use (pasture, alley cropping, young fallow and old fallow) over an entire year using trap nests in the Brazilian northeastern state of Maranhão. Land-use did not influence the abundance of solitary wasps and bees, however, levels of dominance, abundance and frequency of the species Pachodynerus guadulpensis Saussure, Isodontia sp. 1, Isodontia sp. 2, Trypoxylon nitidum Smith and Megachile cfr. framea Schrottky varied with land-use. The abundance of wasps and bees varied over the period of the year with populations peeking in January (bees), and June and July (wasps). Relative humidity explained most of the variation for the abundance of wasps while temperature explained higher portions of the variance for the abundance of bees. There was an interaction between period of the year and land-use for the abundance of wasps (but not for bees). We concluded that total population abundance of solitary wasps and bees were not affected by the land-use however, levels of dominance, abundance and frequency of some species of these hymenopterans changed according to land-use. Also, relative humidity and temperature were important environmental variables explaining the abundances of wasps and bees.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT In two independent bioassays, size and flight ability of parasitoids reared on eggs of Corcyra cephalonica for 19 generations and parasitoids reared on a natural host (Spodoptera frugiperda eggs) for 250 generations were compared as fast quality control procedures for insect rearing. The size of parasitoids was examined by morphometric analysis using a stereoscope. Length and width of the wings, right hind tibia, and the body of 20 individuals (males and females) were measured. In the analysis of flight ability, parasitoids were divided into three groups: individuals able to fly ("flyers"), individuals that did not fly but had no visible deformation ("walkers"), and individuals with visible deformation ("deformed"). We observed that parasitoids were larger when reared on the natural host than on the factitious host for all evaluated morphological characters. However, there was no significant difference between the treatments regarding the number of "flyers", "walkers" or "deformed" parasitoids. This indicates that even though the rearing of T. remus on a factitious host affects parasitoid size, it does not necessarily affect its flight ability and therefore suggests that C. cephalonica is suitable as a factitious host for mass rearing of T. remus. Other biological parameters still need to be evaluated, such as host finding ability, parasitism capacity, and parasitoid field efficacy in order to provide a more complete picture of the effects caused by a host change. However, because fast laboratory tests are needed in rearing facilities, the one used in this study might be useful to rapidly assess parasitoid quality.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Ants can use twigs from fragments of tree branches as a nesting resource. The present study analyzed gatherings of ants in twigs of Albizia niopoides, a Fabaceae native to the Atlantic Forest that is used in landscaping in parks and squares in Brazil. Expeditions were performed in an urban park located in Atlantic Forest areas between February and June 2014. A total of 70 twigs with ants were collected and included 9357 workers, 2309 broods ants, 68 winged ants and 19 queens. Four subfamilies, 10 genera and 17 species/morphospecies were recorded. The species with the largest number of nests were Nylanderia sp.1, Hypoponera sp.4, and Wasmannia auropunctata. Ants of different species were found coexisting in the same twig, and Pheidole gr. tristis was the most common species found sharing a nest. Among the species recorded, only Pseudomyrmex gracilis and P. phyllophilus are arboreal; the others also live in litter. For some species, our results indicate that the twig occupation in the litter can be structured and not by chance. No correlation was found between the twig structure and the colony components.

Resumo em Inglês:

ABSTRACT Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the main vector of viruses Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya. Shortly after the first report of the dengue vector Ae. aegypti in Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in late 2000, the first disease outbreak dengue occurred. Viral serotyping during the 2002 outbreak revealed a close relationship with Pacific DENV-1 genotype IV viruses, supporting the idea that the virus most likely originated in Tahiti. Mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) DNA sequences generated from 68 specimens of Ae. aegypti from Easter Island reporting a unique finding of a single maternal lineage of Ae. aegypti on Easter Island.