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Vertebrates show different tendencies in regard to their preference for seeds or fruits infested by insects compared to non-infested ones. Behaviour may include rejection of one type, preferential consumption of one type or no differentiation among them. When comparing infested versus non-infested fruits, most studies have focused on energy content and nutritional components of the food items; but the energy input provided to the consumer is a better measure for the comparison of the value of each type of food. In this study, I calculated the energy assimilated by rodents for the seeds of the palm Attalea butyracea contained in non-infested endocarps and from bruchid beetle larvae contained in infested endocarps. Using the energy assimilation and time of handling by rodents for both types of endocarps, I quantitatively demonstrated that both infested and non-infested endocarps produce a similar energy input. This finding is consistent with the previous hypothesis that there is a trade-off between the energy content and the time required to extract the insect larvae compared with the seeds in endocarps of Attalea butyracea.

mopolitan family, members of which occur mainly in subtropical and tropical forests. The species are usually medium-sized to large: length of the fore wing ranging from 2 to 20 mm, the length of the body of the largest species reach (including ovipositor) up to 75 mm (in the genera Megischus Brulle, 1846, and Profoenatopus van Achterberg, 2002). Up to now 325 extant species are known, including the species in this paper (Aguiar 2004, Achterberg & Yang 2004). Stephanids are conspicuous in having a ‘crown’ or ‘corona’ on the head (figs. 6, 15), the pronotum being more or less modified (figs. 2, 4, 12, 13), the propodeal spiracle slit-like and situated subapically next to the condylus of the first tergite, and the hind femur and tibia modified (figs. 7, 8). Nearly all species known from forested habitats are black or dark brown, frequently with some parts (especially of head and legs) yellowish-, orangeor reddish-brown. Small parts of the body may be ivory and often the ovipositor sheath has a silvery white or ivory subapical band. The scanty biological information indicates that Stephanidae are idiobiont ectoparasitoids of wood boring larvae (van Achterberg 2002). Stephanids are often found around tree trunks or branches of trees that are dead for about one year, inhabited by beetle larvae and not yet heavily infested by fungi. Stephanidae are nearly always reported as parasitoids

The nematode, Mermis changodudus sp. n. (Mermithidae) is described as a new parasite of Heteronychus beetle larvae (Scarabaeidae) in Madagascar. The diagnostic characters of this species are 1) eggs without polar protuberances or filaments, 2) mouth shifted slightly ventrad and 3) embryo not fully developed at oviposition. This is the sixth species described in the genus Mermis (sensu stricto).