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Cyrtocorinae species are morphologically remarkable stink bugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) from the Neotropics. Ceratozygum horridum (Germar, 1839) is a little-known species with scarce occurrence data but presenting a broad and discontinuous distribution in Amazon and Atlantic Forest, lacking records in the dry diagonal. Field trips in Bolivia registered new records of C. horridum in an ecotone between the Southwest Amazon forest, the Chiquitano Dry Forest and the Dry Chaco forest. We used the maximum entropy algorithm aiming to model the occurrence probability of C. horridum on the Amazon Forest and transferred this model to the dry diagonal and the Atlantic Forest looking for continuous areas of probable occurrence for this species. We used ten records for a constrained portion of the Amazon forests and four environmental layers to train models with different numbers of background points. The average model performances returned AUC values higher than 0.7 and maximum sensitivity was reached. The models could not predict species occurrence with reliability when transferred to the whole Amazon area, dry diagonal, and the Atlantic Forests. Our findings suggest a low probability of occurrence of C. horridum in the dry diagonal, supporting the hypothesis that the Amazon and Atlantic Forests populations are isolated by the dry diagonal. The populations of C. horridum seem to be isolated in small spots with dissimilar ecological features across the complex ecoregions of the Neotropics. Building species distribution models for species with poorly known distribution is challenging and may raise more questions than light answers. Even the small pieces of evidence are pertinent to the knowledge of rare species like C. horridum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental care is a behavioural repertoire exhibited by parents to their offspring to ensure their survival. In anurans, parental care may be optional, maternal, paternal, alloparental or biparental, towards eggs, larvae and/or juveniles. Frostius pernambucensis is a bufonid species exclusively endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforests of northeastern Brazil, occurring in the states of Paraiba, Pernambuco, Alagoas and Bahia. This study describes the behavioural parental care repertoire displayed by F. pernambucensis at the Dois Irmãos State Park (Parque Estadual Dois Irmãos – PEDI), the species type locality, in the municipality of Recife, Pernambuco. Fieldwork was carried out between June 2015 and March 2017, in which parental care was observed for three F. pernambucensis males. In total, 45 behavioural acts were recorded (n = 526), distributed in six subcategories: agonistic behaviour (n = 228; 43.35%), vigilance (n = 92; 17.49%), offspring manipulation (n = 78; 14.82%), dislocation (n = 68; 12.93%), vocalisation (n = 51; 9.70%), and maintenance behaviours (n = 9; 1.71%). Descriptive parental care records for Brazilian amphibians are considered rare, emphasising the importance of the present study, which provides relevant information about this poorly known taxon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South American genus Scatonomus is revised. Diagnoses, descriptions, distribution data, an identification key and illustrations are provided for the 11 species assigned to the genus, including the new species Scatonomus canhedoae sp. nov., Scatonomus mitzae sp. nov. and Scatonomus foresti sp. nov. Scatonomus barbatus, which has been historically regarded as a variety of S. fasciculatus, is revalidated. A new synonymy, of S. xanthopygus Pereira with Scatonomus chalybaeus Erichson, is proposed. Scatonomus lauropalui Vulcano and Pereira is transferred to Anomiopus Westwood, 1842. Lectotypes are designated for S. viridis viridis, S. fasciculatus, S. chalybaeus and S. barbatus stat. rev. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methods to measure and monitor wild populations are important conservation tools in areas affected by anthropogenic disturbances. We compared three populations of the South American frogPhysalaemus cuvieriFitzinger, 1826 (Leptodactylidae) from areas with different degrees of anthropogenic disturbance in regard to their degrees of fluctuating asymmetry (FA). We selected four morphological characters (radio-ulna, femur, tibia-fibula and digit length) and compared two populations from relatively pristine areas with one population located in a highly urbanised and disturbed area. We found a significantly higher level of FA for the digit length, p < 0.05, in the population suffering the highest level of anthropogenic disturbance in relation to the two populations located in the pristine areas. There are no significant differences in the three populations in regard to FA for the radio-ulna, femur and tibia-fibula. The absence of FA in these three measurements might indicate a negative effect of limb asymmetry on this species survivorship. Our study provides a good example of the use of FA as indicator of environmental stress. However, this result must be viewed with some caution, since we observed FA in only one morphological character. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The male, female, pupa and larva of a new species of Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera),Locharcha opportunaMoreira and Becker, are described and illustrated with the aid of optical and scanning electron microscopy. A preliminary analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences including members of related lineages is also provided. The immature stages are associated with galls induced by a species ofPalaeomystellaFletcher (Lepidoptera: Momphidae) onTibouchina sellowiana(Cham.) Cogn. (Melastomataceae), endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest. Larvae are kleptoparasitic, usurping the gall internal space and thereafter feeding on the internal tissues. By determining the variation in population density of both species and following gall development individually throughout ontogeny under field conditions, we demonstrated that the kleptoparasite completes its life cycle inside galls induced byPalaeomystella, where pupation occurs. The variation in seasonal abundance of the kleptoparasite is tied to that of the cecidogenous species, with their corresponding peaks in density occurring sequentially. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:525F6D52-8CE1-47D1-A0D9-78B564DF5565 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liolaemus lutzae is a lizard species distributed along the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Individuals of this species dig burrows in the sandy substrate of restingas for shelter. We analysed whether the behaviour of L. lutzae directing the openings of their burrows was affected by environmental factors in two protected restinga areas: the Reserva Ecologica Estadual de Jacarepia and the Parque Natural Municipal de Grumari. The openings of the burrows were located mainly close to the seashore (possibly because of less compacted substrate and/or differences in microenvironmental temperatures), and predominantly in terrains with slope. The behaviour by L. lutzae of orienting the entrance of their burrows in the descendent direction of the terrain slope may be advantageous by rendering them less vulner-able to potential threats and disturbances coming from the surface, due to being located deeper in the sand compared with burrows built on fiat terrains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reproductive phenology and guild of the floral visitors of Canistropsis microps in an Atlantic Forest area in Ilha Grande, RJ were studied for 4 years. The rates of flowering, fruiting and mortality were related to air temperature, rainfall and photoperiod. To register the flower visitors, observations were carried out for 5 days in each reproductive season. The flowering and fruiting occurred in the rainy season and were positively related to the studied climatic variables, whereas the highest mortality rates occurred in the dry season and were negatively related to the climatic variables. The guild of floral visitors of C. microps was composed of Hymenoptera, characterizing the species as a melittophilous plant. These results indicate that the rainy season presents more favourable conditions for investment in sexual reproduction, besides being the period in which potential pollinators have larger population densities and a longer period of activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between myxomycetes and insects was investigated in a fragment of the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest located in the city of Recife, Pernambuco, north-eastern Brazil. Sixteen excursions into the Dois Irmaos State Ecological Reserve (7°55'43'' to 8°09'17'' S, 34°52'05'' to 35°00'59'' W, 387.4 ha) were carried out during different seasons between August 2005 and August 2007 for observations and collections of myxomycetes and insects on decomposing trunks and leaf litter. A total of 196 specimens of myxomycetes was obtained, representing 31 species, 16 genera and six families. Baeocera sp. (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) individuals predominated (86%) in the sample, found on the sporocarps of four species of Trichiales (Arcyria cinerea, Arcyria denudata, Hemitrichia calyculata, Hemitrichia serpula) and two species of Liceales (Lycogala epidendrum, Tubulifera microsperma). No preference was observed for type of sporocarp. No seasonal influence was found for the establishment of these associations, recorded for the first time in this forest environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]