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In order to understand the implications of agriculture on the environment, ecosystem health must be measured. Observing the presence of a biological indicator within an ecosystem is one such method. In this study, male euglossine bees were observed using as attractant cineole 1:8, at adjacent organic (La Paz) and conventional (La Carena) coffee farms near the Northern Barranca River, San Ramón, Alajuela, Costa Rica. Simultaneous data collections were conducted on both farms in April 2004 (late-dry season) and June 2004 (early-rainy season) and combined with the findings of August 2004 (mid-rainy season). These observations show that orchid bees are a viable bio-indicator of organic farm health on a seasonal basis. In the dry season there was no significant difference in orchid bee abundance between the two farms. There is a strong tendency for more bees during the rainy season, suggesting that orchid bee abundance is linked to seasonality and forest access. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (4): 1189-1195. Epub 2006 Dec. 15Con el propósito de entender las implicaciones de la agricultura orgánica (en comparación con la tradicional) para el "estado de salud ambiental", usamos aceite de eucalipto (1:8-cineole), para monitorear la abundancia de machos de abejas de las orquídeas (euglosinas) como posibles bioindicadores. Comparamos una finca de café orgánico (La Paz) y una tradicional (La Carena), cerca del Río Barranca en San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica. Las tomas simultáneas de datos fueron realizadas en ambas fincas en abril del 2004 (a finales de la estación seca), en junio del 2004 (a principios de la estación lluviosa) y en agosto del 2004 (a mediados de la estación lluviosa). Estas abejas pueden ser bioindicadores viables de la salud de las fincas orgánicas de café (en comparación con las tradicionales) durante la estación lluviosa. Durante la estación seca no se mostró una diferencia significativa en la abundancia de las abejas de orquídeas, entre una y otra finca. Hubo un número significativo de euglosinas en las fincas orgánicas durante la estación lluviosa; sugiriendo que el aumento está vinculado con la estacionalidad y el acceso al bosque en su hábitat natural

The potential of Euglossini bees, especially Euglossa, as biological indicators of organic vs non-organic coffee farms was studied in Atenas and San Isidro, Alajuela, Costa Rica using 1.8-cineole as lure. Observations were made for three days at each of four farms and complemented with data from a year of observations. Orchid bees were in greater abundance in the organic farms (t-Student test). However, lower abundances suggest that an organic farm may be negatively affected by the proximity of non-organic farms, depending on its size and distance. Orchid bees may be indicators of organic coffee farms. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (3): 965-969. Epub 2006 Sept. 29.

We present a key to the Costa Rican species of Pseudostigmatidae, comprising three genera with the following species: Megaloprepus caerulatus, Mecistogaster linearis, M. modesta, M. ornata and Pseudostigma aberrans. Pseudostigma accedens, which may occur in the region, is also included. For each species we give a brief account of morphology, phenology and life zone preferences, including distributional maps based on more than 270 records. These are not all of the known specimens from the area, but a high enough number to give a relatively good picture of the distribution and status of the species. We found M. caerulatus to be active during the first half of the year in seasonal, tropical semidry lowland forest and tropical moist forest at mid-elevation, but like M. linearis, M. caerulatus was active all year round in non-seasonal, tropical wet lowland forest and tropical moist forest at mid-elevation. Mecistogaster modesta also flew year round in non-seasonal, tropical wet lowland forest and tropical moist evergreen forest at mid-elevation, and likewise in seasonal and non-seasonal, tropical premontane moist forest. Only a few findings, however, have been made of M. modesta in seasonal, tropical semi-dry decidu-ous forest and seasonal, tropical moist evergreen forest. Mecistogaster ornata was missing entirely from non-sea-sonal, tropical wet lowland forest and non-seasonal, tropical moist forest at mid- elevation, while this species was active year round in seasonal, tropical dry lowland forest and tropical semi-dry forest, as well as in seasonal, tropical moist evergreen forest and tropical premontane moist forest, both at mid-elevation. Pseudostigma aberrans has so far been found too few times in Costa Rica for any indication of flight time preferenceSe presenta una clave de las especies de Pseudostigmatidae de Costa Rica. Esta familia está representada en este país por tres géneros con las siguientes especies: Megaloprepus caerulatus, Mecistogaster linearis, M. modesta, M. ornata y Pseudostigma aberrans. Se incluye también a Pseudostigma accedens, como probable en esta área. Se presenta un resumen breve de la morfología, fenología y preferencia de zona de vida de cada especie, incluyendo mapas de distribución basados en más de 270 registros. Esto no incluye todos los ejemplares conocidos en Costa Rica pero proporciona una buena perspectiva de la distribución y estatus de cada especie. Se encontró que M. caerulatus volaba en bosque tropical seco solamente durante la primera mitad del año, pero durante todo el año en bosque tropical húmedo premontano, en bosque tropical húmedo y en bosque tropical muy húmedo, sin estación seca. Mecistogaster linearis volaba todo el año en bosque tropical húmedo y en bosque tropical muy húmedo, ambos sin estación seca. Mecistogaster modesta también volaba durante todo el año en bosque tropical muy húmedo y en bosque tropical húmedo, sin estación seca, como también en bosque tropical húmedo premontano, pero hubieron pocas observaciones de esta especie dentro del bosque tropical seco. Mecistogaster ornata estaba ausente completamente del bosque tropical muy húmedo y bosque tropical húmedo, ambos sin estación seca. Sin embargo, esta última especie volaba durante todo el año en bosque tropical seco, en bosque tropical húmedo premontano, en bosque tropical semi-seco y en bosque tropical húmedo, todos estos sin estación seca. Pseudostigma aberrans se ha observado tan pocas veces en Costa Rica que no es posible saber la preferencia del tiempo de su vuelo

The influence of wing length on mate preference was examined in natural populations of the Neotropical guava fruit fly, Anastrepha striata Schiner, at two locations in Costa Rica. Based on evidence that the fungi are transmitted during mating, site-specific infection by Laboulbeniales fungi on the body surface was used to assess mating history. Males and females that carried fungi on the legs and/or on the ventral part of the thorax (males), and on both sides of the notum and/or the dorsal base of the abdomen (females), had significantly longer wings than males and females without fungi. This suggests that individuals of both sexes with longer wings (i.e. larger individuals) enjoy higher mating success. Fungus infection is more frequent in the wet than in the seasonally dry forest, possibly because hosts are available year-round in the wet forest.Se estudió poblaciones naturales de la mosca frutera Anastrepha striata Schiner, en dos lugares de Costa Rica. Los hongos Laboulbeniales se transmiten en éstas durante la cópula. Hembras y machos con hongos en las patas y/o parte ventral del tórax (machos), y en ambos lados del noto y/o base dorsal del abdomen (hembras), tenían alas significativamente más largas que los individuos no parasitados. Esto sugiere que los individuos más grandes logran más apareamientos.

Analytical sociology is a middle-range approach to sociological theorizing which seeks to develop precise and realistic action-based explanations of various social phenomena. At the heart of the analytical approach is the idea that acceptable explanations must detail the mechanisms through which the phenomena to be explained were brought about. In this article I discuss the most important elements of this approach and I try to illustrate the various components involved in an explanation of social change. The analytical approach adopted here seeks to closely integrate mechanism-based theories of action and interaction, and agent-based computational modelling. The article is organized in the following way: first I present the guiding ideas behind the mechanisms approach. Second I discuss various mechanisms of action and interaction to illustrate what it is all about. Third I use a socalled agent-based model for illustrating how one can link individual-level mechanisms to social outcomes. Fourth I show how important it is to empirically calibrate these types of models. And fifth, and finally, I round it all up with some concluding remarks.