Mixed flocks are associations of two or more species that are formed and maintained through mutual behavioral responses, with advantages such as maximizing foraging and protecting against predation. ...This study aimed to evaluate the composition, temporal dynamics, and presence of core species in mixed flocks of birds in a remnant of the Submontane Atlantic Rain Forest in the Parque Nacional Aparados da Serra, southern Santa Catarina state, Brazil. Data collection took place from October 2016 to September 2017 through monthly campaigns, consisting of three consecutive observation days, with sampling sessions of six hours per day, resulting in a total effort of 216 h of observations. For each contact with the flocks, we recorded the species and number of individuals, stratum of occurrence, substrates of search, and agonistic interactions. We recorded 152 mixed flocks, with a total of 76 species belonging to 24 families, and five orders, with Thraupidae, Tyrannidae, Furnariidae, and Rhynchocyclidae being the richest. The flocks had an average of 4.5 ± 2.7 species and 8.7 ± 5.8 individuals, with richness and the number of individuals being positively correlated (R² = 0.8). Mixed flocks occurred throughout the year. There was a great variation in the number of contacts from October to February (from 5 to 20 contacts). Meanwhile from March to September, the coldest period of the year in the region, the number of contacts did not vary (from 9 to 14 contacts). However, there was no difference in the number of contacts between these months (z = 0.37; p = 0.691). Basileuterus culicivorus and Habia rubica were the core species because, in addition to their high participation (46.7 and 32.9%, respectively), they showed frequent and conspicuous movement and vocalization. Thus, a high capacity to enlist a greater number of individuals from different species for the flocks was demonstrated.
Eurysthea vandenberghei, new species from Nicaragua is described, and E. vandenberghei Santos-Silva, Heffern & Botero, 2021 is considered a nomen nudum.
Knowledge of the reproductive biology of Bare-faced Curassows (BFC) from their natural habitats is very limited. Our study covers a two-and-a-half year breeding phenology on BFC in the northern ...Pantanal (Mato Grosso State, Brazil) with the main objective of collecting information on reproduction biology to contribute to future conservation management strategies of this cracid, which received a recent status of "High Conservation Priority". The study was conducted at the SESC Pantanal, Baía das Pedras, Mato Grosso, Brazil (16°29′55″S, 56°24′46″W), a private protected area of approximately 4,200 ha. Between July 2015 and December 2017, 37 sampling locations were monitored with camera traps placed in a regular grid with a spacing of 1 km. Offspring were detected at least once at 8 locations, namely, in March, April, and May 2016 and in June, July, October, and November 2017, always together with parent(s). Territorial overlap between different family groups was detected. The camera trap dataset was supplemented by data from Citizen Science Projects (i.e., eBird) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Based on feather developmental stages and body size, offspring were classified into different age classes. Age determination indicates that breeding occurs year-round in the northern Pantanal region, supported by eBird and GBIF data. The use of a grid-based design for future camera-trapping studies of BFCs is strongly recommended. Our study is of biological relevance for conservation management projects since data were collected in an area with low anthropogenic disturbance and intact ecosystem services.
This study represents an inventory of fish collected in a first order tributary of the Igarapé Piracolina at Chapada dos Parecis, upper Rio Machado drainage, Rio Madeira basin, Vilhena, Rondônia, ...Brazil. The sampled stream is located in moderate altitudes (570-590) m above sea level and it is the type locality of five recently described species. Through fieldwork carried out in four fieldtrips between 2014 and 2015, 966 specimens were captured belonging to 18 species, distributed in nine families and four orders. Most of these species have a restricted distribution in the upper Rio Machado. Characidae was the most representative family both in number of species and specimens. One species is recognized as new and endemic to the region, and belong to the genus Pyrrhulina (Lebiasinidae), while five other species (Ancistrus verecundus, Bryconops piracolina, Hyphessobrycon lucenorum, Moenkhausia cambacica, and M. parecis) are also possibly endemic to the upper Rio Machado basin. In this scenario, our results provide relevant data for the establishment of guiding policies, management decisions and bases for conservation actions in moderate altitude areas of the Amazon basin.
The spider genus Strotarchus Simon, 1888 includes 18 extant species from the American continent (12 from Mexico). Additionally, two fossil species have been described for this genus, Strotarchus ...paradoxus (Petrunkevitch, 1963) from Mexican amber (Chiapas), and Strotarchus heidti Wunderlich, 1988 from Dominican Republic amber. From two pieces of amber from Chiapas, here we describe for the first time, the male of the fossil spider S. paradoxus previously known only by a female specimen preserved in amber from the same locality. Moreover, a diagnosis is proposed for this species based on the characteristics of the female described by Petrunkevitch (1963) and the male here described.
Se presenta la descripción de Pyropyga julietafierroae sp. nov., incluyendo los genitales de la hembra, de modo que es la primera vez que se describen estas estructuras para una hembra del género ...Pyropyga Motschulsky, 1852. La especie nueva fue descubierta en un ambiente urbanizado de Ciudad Universitaria en la Ciudad de México, lo que aumenta a 13 especies el género Pyropyga, de las cuales ocho se registran en México. Se muestra un mapa de distribución de las especies mexicanas. Además, se comenta sobre la participación de la ciudadanía para la propuesta y elección del nombre científico con la temática “Mujeres Mexicanas Ilustres”, este ejercicio se realiza por primera vez para nombrar una especie de luciérnaga en nuestro país.
We report a case of male corpse colonization found inside a residence in the municipality of Areia, Paraíba, Brazil. The body was found in the gaseous stage of decomposition and was colonized by fly ...larvae. We reared the larvae collected at the crime scene on a temperature-controlled. We supplied beef as a feeding substrate for the larvae until adult emergence to allow taxonomic identification. Three specimens of Peckia (Squamatodes) ingens emerged in the laboratory. Thus, we present the first record of the flesh-fly Peckia (S.) ingens colonizing a human corpse in Neotropical region, updating the list of species with forensic potential. In addition, information on the total time of the species development and the implications of these findings for the consolidation of forensic entomology in the Northeast region were discussed.
The genus Plega Navás, 1928, belongs to the subfamily Symphrasinae, a group recently transferred from Mantispidae to Rhachiberothidae. This genus is herein reported as parasitoid of the symphytan ...family Diprionidae for the first time, becoming the first record of association between this neuropteran subfamily and non-aculeate Hymenoptera. This new association was discovered in “Ixcateopan de Cuauhtémoc”, in the Mexican state of Guerrero, where Plega spinosa Ardila et al., 2019 was found associated with immatures of the sawfly Monoctenus cuauhtemoci De Lira, 2021, a pest in forests of Juniperus flaccida Schlechtendal (white cedar). The neuropteran was found to be the most abundant parasitoid of this symphytan, becoming a potential candidate for biological control of phytophagous sawflies in juniper forests, an economically important plant species for the wood industry in the region. Considering the behavior and morphological aspects of the primary larvae and the behavior of the adults of Plega, three possible scenarios in which the primary larvae of P. spinosa board the larvae of Monoctenus to complete its life cycle are outlined. This finding reinforces the hypothesis of a generalist ectoparasitoid lifeway of the larvae of the genus Plega on larvae and pupae of holometabolous insects.
We provide a taxonomic note on Paedarium Aldrich, 1926, with new generic synonyms, Neopaedarium Blanchard, 1943 syn. nov. and Velardemyia Valencia, 1972 syn. nov., and new combinations resulting from ...these synonyms, Paedarium ica (Valencia, 1972) comb. nov. and Paedarium subauratum (Blanchard, 1943) comb. nov. Paedarium punctipennis Walker, 1857, is considered an unplaced species of Voriini. A redescription of P. subauratum and notes on its biology are given. A key for species of the genus Paedarium is provided.
In the systematics of cnidarians, the different types of cnidocysts are considered an important taxonomic character. In Hydra, the four types of cnidocysts found in the ectoderm, concentrated in ...tentacles and their measurements, together with other morphological and reproductive characteristics, are very important for the taxonomy of the species. In this study, we explore in detail the biometric and statistical characteristics of the cnidome of three species of Hydra collected in three different environments for each climate season. A total of 17,378 capsules were measured. We used ANOVA test and Generalized Linear Model to analyze the distribution and differences reflected in each cnidome, considering the factors “individuals”, “season”, “lagoon” and “species”. The results were clear: the cnidome keep specific information that, together with other taxonomic characteristics, allows us to discern between species of different groups. The same happens with cnidome of the same species but from different lagoons or climatic seasons: we observed a variation of parameters for each type of cnidocyst that could differentiate “ecological races”, since these differences are not enough to declare different species.
