Search

Simple Summary: How the diversity of species changes from place to place is well known for some groups, such as vertebrates, considerably aiding conservation planning. However, it is often poorly known for the very diverse groups that make up most species on Earth, such as many invertebrates. This may hinder their effective conservation. We surveyed a group of "Darwin wasps", a very diverse and important component of invertebrate fauna, up a mountain in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, a global hotspot for biodiversity. The wasps reproduce by parasitizing other insects and spiders. We found a large number of species of these wasps, suggesting that biodiversity may be high for this group in tropical regions, despite some previous studies suggesting the opposite. We found that low- and mid-altitude locations were especially diverse for this group, but not high-altitude locations. Furthermore, different species were found at different altitudes up the mountain. These findings suggest that tropical forests may harbor high concentrations of Darwin wasps; consequently, deforestation risks losing much of that biodiversity. Conserving low- to mid-altitude forests may be the most effective way to conserve the diversity of these wasps, although protecting a wide range of altitudes is necessary to conserve all species. Understanding how biodiversity varies from place to place is a fundamental goal of ecology and an important tool for halting biodiversity loss. Parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera) are a diverse and functionally important animal group, but spatial variation in their diversity is poorly understood. We survey a community of parasitic wasps (Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae) using Malaise traps up a mountain in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, and relate the catch to biotic and abiotic habitat characteristics. We find high species richness compared with previous similar studies, with abundance, richness, and diversity peaking at low to intermediate elevation. There is a marked change in community composition with elevation. Habitat factors strongly correlated with elevation also strongly predict changes in the pimpline community, including temperature as well as the density of bamboo, lianas, epiphytes, small trees, and herbs. These results identify several possible surrogates of pimpline communities in tropical forests, which could be used as a tool in conservation. They also contribute to the growing evidence for a typical latitudinal gradient in ichneumonid species richness, and suggest that low to medium elevations in tropical regions will sometimes conserve the greatest number of species locally, but to conserve maximal biodiversity, a wider range of elevations should also be targeted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parapatry occurs when species exhibit adjacent distributions in space, with contact in their boundaries, with or without overlapping. Many factors can generate this pattern, such as environmental conditions and interspecific competition. Mountains are excellent systems to study parapatry because they exhibit large environmental heterogeneity within a small geographical area. Phanaeus splendidulus and P. dejeani are two similar dung beetle species with apparent sympatric distributions at geographical scale, but with a hypothesized parapatric distribution in mountains. We assessed whether P. splendidulus and P. dejeani indeed exhibit a parapatric distribution in two mountain ranges in the Atlantic Forest. We also tested the effects of environmental conditions and interspecific competition on the observed pattern of abundance for both species for one mountain. We placed pitfall traps at every 50 m of elevation from 600 to 2400 m a.s.l. at Itatiaia National Park and from 100 to 2050 m a.s.l. at Serra dos Órgãos National Park in Brazil. We used temperature, vegetation cover, litter volume and soil granulometry as environmental predictors of each species abundance and the abundance of its congeneric species as a measure of interspecific competition. Phanaeus splendidulus and P. dejeani indeed exhibited a parapatric distribution and a small overlapping area, with P. splendidulus reaching up to 1450 m a.s.l. in Itatiaia National Park and 1250 m a.s.l. in Serra dos Órgãos National Park, and P. dejeani occurring above to 1000 m a.s.l. Only maximum temperature was significantly related to species abundance. Maximum temperature affected positively P. splendidulus abundance and negatively P. dejeani, suggesting that these species have opposite climate preferences. The abundance of the congeneric species was not significant for either species. Understand species distributions and what drives them is critical to understand the evolution of species interaction, their responses to the environment and for conservation, in a world of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Neotropical Polysphincta dizardi species-group is revised. We describe seven new species from South America: P. bonita sp. nov., P. cosnipata sp. nov., P. inca sp. nov., P. macroepomia sp. nov., P. organensis sp. nov., P. pichincha sp. nov., and P. teresa sp. nov. In addition, we provide a diagnosis and an identification key to all species of the group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) are charismatic insects that have been fruitful model systems in biotechnology. However, lack of information about firefly taxonomy and ecology renders species identification a hard task, especially in the Neotropical region, where fireflies are most diverse. A major gap in the literature on Neotropical fireflies is the lack of knowledge on species' ecological niches and habitats, which are fundamental aspects for understanding their biology. Here, we provide an annotated checklist of the firefly fauna of the Serra dos Órgãos mountain range (Rio de Janeiro State, Southeastern Brazil), with information on the natural history of each species. We assembled data in three ways: monthly sampling with Malaise traps and active search along an elevational transect from 130 to 2,170 m, over 2 years (2014–2016), extensive field observations, and extracted from historical species records for the Serra dos Órgãos from museum specimens in key collections in Brazil and Europe. We provide a taxonomic key to the genera recorded in the region, and a differential diagnosis for each species, highlighting key references for each taxon. We report 58 species representing 21 genera, making the Serra dos Órgãos one of the richest firefly hotspots on Earth. Most species are restricted to one or two habitat types and/or just one of the regional seasons (warm or cool), and many were only collected either by malaise traps or active search, underlining the importance of sampling different habitat types and seasons, and using different sampling methods when surveying fireflies. Out of the 51 species observed in the field, 49 were active either during the day or the night, although two species – Photuris elliptica and Pyrogaster nigrolineatus – were active in both periods, which is rare in fireflies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background We report the genus Ticapimpla Gauld, 1991 from French Guiana and the species Ticapimpla amazonica Palacio et al., T. carinata Palacio et al., T. matamatae Palacio et al. and T. soinii Palacio et al. from Brazilian Amazonia. The new discoveries suggest that the genus is widely distributed in Amazonian lowland rain forests. In addition, we diagnose and illustrate the males of T. carinata and T. matamatae for the first time. Short diagnoses and layer-photos for all the Amazonian species are provided. New information The genus Ticapimpla is reported for the first time from French Guiana and the species T. amazonica, T. carinata, T. matamatae and T. soinii from Brazilian Amazonia. In addition, the males of T. carinata and T. matamatae are diagnosed and illustrated for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tropical montane organisms are vulnerable to climate change because of elevational specialisation, but little is known of the variability in elevational specialisation across tropical insects. We assessed elevational specialisation across several insect taxa comprising four trophic groups 80–2263 m up an elevational transect in Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, using community‐based and species‐based approaches. We sampled 697 species, of which 32% were found only in the top and 45% only in the bottom half of the transect. Considering only the 182 species with at least five individuals recorded, the percentage of species found exclusively in the top or bottom half drops to 16% and 24%. Across four vegetation belts (lower montane forest, montane forest, upper montane forest and Campos de Altitude) the Eumolpinae (herbivores) were more specialised than Scarabaeinae (saprotrophs), or Lampyridae (predators). This result was robust to the treatment of rare species, and the difference was most marked at higher elevations. Lampyridae lacked upper montane forest specialists. Using all species sampled, specialisation to the upper or lower half of the transect was greatest among Chrysomelidae, Curculionidae (both herbivores) and Lampyridae, and lowest among Tiphiidae (parasitoids) and Coccinellidae (predators). Considering only better sampled species, however, Lampyridae were the most specialised and Braconidae the least specialised. Trophic groups also varied consistent with these findings. Our findings suggest high elevational specialisation and concomitant extinction risk in Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest insects. Differences in elevational specialisation between taxonomic groups may alter the functioning of insect communities under climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical mountains are hotspots of biodiversity, hosting many endemic species. Here, we proposeLuciuranusgen. nov. and four new firefly species dwelling in montane habitats of the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest.Luciuranusgen. nov. is unique in the shape of the last abdominal segments of both males and females, varying in a clear species-specific fashion.Luciuranusjosephisp. nov. andL. jameshookisp. nov. are restricted to Serra dos Órgãos mountain range, whileL. dextrussp. nov. andL. sinistrussp. nov. are restricted to Serra da Mantiqueira formation. DNA barcoding withCOIgene confirmed species identities and male–female associations. We propose that terminalia structures work together as a lock-and-key mechanism, avoiding hybridization in overlapping zones along heterogeneous habitats, such as montane forests, where temperature, moisture, and vegetation cover can change significantly even in small spatial and temporal scales. Such morphological displacement is discussed in terms of sexual selection on both male and female features. We also provide detailed morphological descriptions, illustrations, and a key to species based on males and females. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:05598351-4655-49E5-9011-B90DFC7D9435 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the spatial and temporal distribution of blackfly larvae on a mesohabitat scale atfour different breeding sites in the Brazilian savannah "Cerrado."A total of 2,385 larvae of 12 different species were collected, and three of the sampling sites revealedspecies richness and diversity peaks in April. A principal components analysis was performed to reduce abiotic data into a smaller set of independent variables, such as precipitation and river size, and subsequent linear regressions showed that Simulium subpallidum was positively correlated with precipitation. This species, along with S. nigrimanum, was negatively correlated withriver size, whereasS. perflavum was negatively correlated with precipitation. Beta diversity was negatively correlated withprecipitation, and black fly taxocenoses were markedly different between wet and dry seasons, as shown through nonmetric multidimensional scaling, suggesting that precipitation playsa major role in structuring these communities, probably because of enhanced drift and the dendritic nature of lotic metacommunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We report the effect of size on male combat in a parasitic wasp. [•] Males with a large thorax are more likely to win fights. [•] Males fighting for females in the field are also larger than the average male. [•] Unusually for solitary wasps, the largest wasps were male. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article summarizes and discusses a research study about the role of Cerradomys subflavus as seed predator and disperser of the palm Allagoptera arenaria. Data shows a zero to 64 percent predation rates per palm as well as a significant increase in the number and proportion of damaged seeds along with crop size. Observation indicates that rodents remove the infructescence peduncle from plants before seed consumption and they peel the fruits before endosperm consumption. Findings reveal that 64 percent of the fruits were manipulated by rodents either in situ or away from palms with 16 percent of the fruits preyed in the same place and 29 percent following removal while two percent were dispersed and 12 percent were buried.

Examines whether leaf abscission rate in flooded plants is higher than in non-flooded plants and whether galled leaves have higher probability of abscission than non-galled leaves. Abundance and survivorship of Lopesia on flooded plants; Size of galled leaves compared with non-galled leaves; Distribution of leaf sizes between flooded and non-flooded plants.

• Narrowly distributed species suggested to monitor climate change in montane forest. • Leaf beetles and fireflies as good taxa to search for climate change bioindicators. • Malaise trap as a suitable method to monitor climate change beetle bioindicators. Mountains have provided important insights on the impacts of climate change on species distribution. Organisms living in tropical mountains are expected to specialize in narrow temperature limits (demonstrating low thermal tolerance), often with narrow elevational distributions relative to temperate species, and may shift their elevational range in response to climate change. Importantly, insects are sensitive, and respond rapidly, to temperature variation, making them suitable bioindicators to monitor the effects of climate change. However, to monitor the effects of climate change in mountains it is important to understand present elevational distribution and other ecological characteristics of local insect populations. In this context, we suggest a method to identify beetle taxa that can be used to monitor climate change effects in tropical mountainous insect species. We illustrate the method by describing the elevational distribution of different beetle groups, associating this distribution with species' thermal range in a tropical mountain forest in Southeast Brazil. Sampling was conducted at Serra dos Órgãos National Park, RJ, Brazil, in the Atlantic Rainforest, one of the main global biodiversity hotspots. In order to systematically sample beetle diversity across elevations, we used flight interception 'Malaise' traps at fifteen different sites, from 130 m to 2170 m a.s.l., over three consecutive months during the rainy season. To investigate species' climatic niches, we recorded climatic variables for this period. We collected 2963 individuals of 272 species, belonging to six Coleoptera groups over a temperature gradient that decreased about 0.5 °C for each 100 m in elevation. Considering the thermal tolerance of species from tropical mountains and their narrow elevational range and abundance, five Coleoptera species belonging to Cerambycidae, Eumolpinae (Chrysomelidae), Lampyridae and Phengodidae were considered suitable bioindicators, and the Eumolpinae and Lampyridae were the ones with the narrowest elevational range. We suggest that the use of abundant species (or groups of species) with narrow elevational range as bioindicators can be valuable to monitor the effects of climate change on the biota, allowing us to evaluate how species are responding to changes over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Neotropical Polysphinctadizardi species-group is revised. We describe seven new species from South America: P.bonita sp. nov. , P.cosnipata sp. nov. , P.inca sp. nov. , P.macroepomia sp. nov. , P.organensis sp. nov. , P.pichincha sp. nov. , and P.teresa sp. nov. In addition, we provide a diagnosis and an identification key to all species of the group., (Diego G. Pádua, Ilari E. Sääksjärvi, Tamara Spasojevic, Kari M. Kaunisto, Ricardo F. Monteiro, Marcio L. Oliveira.)

Acrotaphus Townes, 1960 is a moderately large New World genus of spider attacking parasitoid wasps. Previously, it comprised 11 species. The present study aims to review the genus, and includes descriptions of 15 new species: A. amajari sp. n., A. amazonicus sp. n., A. bodoquenaensis sp. n., A. cuzconus sp. n., A. dolichopus sp. n., A. homeofranklini sp. n., A. jackiechani sp. n., A. kourou sp. n., A. micrus sp. n., A. monotaenius sp. n., A. nambilloensis sp. n., A. pseudoamazonicus sp. n., A. pseudomexicanus sp. n., A. venezuelanus sp. n. and A. zampieronae sp. n.. In addition, we present new characters for the study of the genus and describe the male genitalia for the first time. An illustrated key and maps to the species of the genus are provided. Acrotaphus franklini Gauld, 1991 and A. pseudoamazonicus sp. n. were recorded from the nests of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse Saussure, 1867 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae).

Chrysomelinae is one of the largest subfamilies in Chrysomelidae, yet much basic information remains unknown for Neotropical species. The present study aims to compile the first regional list of Chrysomelinae for the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and assemble natural history traits obtained from our fieldwork from 2005 to 2010 in Serra dos Órgãos National Park, a mountainous area of Atlantic forest. The species list was compiled from data from field work, collections, and literature, and recorded a total of 100 species, belonging to 21 genera in one tribe (Chrysomelini) and three subtribes: Chrysolinina (91 species), Chrysomelina (eight species) and Entomoscelina (one species). Of these, 91 species are new records for the state. Serra dos Órgaõs National Park holds records of 43 species, with Platyphora being the most species-rich genus, and Solanaceae the most common host plant family. Some new records of reproductive mode (larviparous vs. oviparous) and larval behavior are also given. These Brazil Chrysomelinae species exhibited a clear seasonal pattern, with more species recorded in the hot and rainy season from October to January, and considerably fewer species from June to August, during the drier and colder months. The fraction of new records in comparison with published species and natural history information illustrates how little we know of Chrysomelinae in the state and in the country.

The distribution of the blackfly larval taxocenoses of different altitudes in the Itatiaia National Park (located in the southeast of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil 44 degrees 34' - 44 degrees 42' W, 22 degrees 16' - 22 degrees 28' S) was investigated on four campaigns, one in each season of 2003. On each campaign 60 samples were collected, using 30 x 30 cm wooden quadrats, distributed at four sites: Taquaral, Véu da Noiva, Três Picos and Brejo da Lapa. The winter and spring campaigns included two additional sampling sites: Alsene and Agulhas Negras. A total of 3578 larvae and 292 pupae were sampled, representative of six species: Simulium clavibranchium Lutz, S. subnigrum Lutz, S. rappae Py-Daniel, S. incrustatum Lutz, S. stellatum Gil-Azevedo, Figueiró & Maia-Herzog and Lutzsimulium pernigrum Lutz 1910. The highest larvae abundance and diversity were reported at the intermediate altitude site, Brejo da Lapa. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) revealed that L. pernigrum, S. stellatum and S. incrustatum were associated with the smaller breeding sites, the first two species being associated with sunny sites, while S. incrustatum occurred in sites with little sunlight.