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Germination and seedling establishment are two critical processes in the life cycle of plants. Seeds and seedlings must pass through a series of abiotic and biotic filters in order to recruit as members of their communities. These processes are part of the regeneration niche of the species. In arid regions, the regeneration niche is frequently associated to facilitation by shade. Facilitation is a positive interaction between plants, in which one of them acts as a benefactor (the nurse) of the other (the beneficiary). The result of this interaction can be reflected in the increased growth, survival, and/or reproduction of the beneficiary plant. In this study, we determined experimentally the effect of shade and irrigation on the germination and early survival of dominant species of a semi-arid Andean region, the Bolivian Prepuna. An experiment with Acacia feddeana, Prosopis ferox, Cercidium andicola (woody species), Parodia maassii, and Oreocereus celsianus (cactus species) was carried out at an experimental garden in La Paz, Bolivia, with a bifactorial design, considering shaded and unshaded pots, subjected to two irrigation treatments (≈50 and 80 mm of rainfall during the whole study period). Microenvironmental conditions did not affect the seed germination of the woody species. However, they showed differences in seedling survival: A. feddeana survived better under shade, whereas P. ferox and C. andicola survived better without shade. Cercidium andicola, compared to P. ferox, was more affected by shade and low irrigation. Although germination success of cacti was low, both species germinated better under shade and with high irrigation. These results showed differences in the regeneration niche of dominant species of the Prepuna which may favor their coexistence and which may be characteristic of other dry Andean regions.

Artículo digita, A new species of Sycorax (Diptera, Psychodidae,sycoracinae) from the pacific coast of Colombia.Sycorax utriensis n. sp. is described and illustrated from a male specimen collected with a CDC light trap in the parque Nacional Natural Ensenada de Utría,on the pacific Coast of Colombia.Five species of sycorax are now known from Colombia,S.andicola Young,1979,S.colombiensis Young,1979,S.trispinosa Young,1979 and S. utriensis n.sp., Uma nova espécie de sycorax(Diptera,Psychodidae,sycoracinae) de Costa Pacífica da Colombia.Sycorax utriensis n.sp.é descrita e ilustrada a partir de um exemplar macho coletado con armadilha luminosa CDC no parque Nacional Natural Enenada de Utría,localizado na costa do pacífico Colombiano. Sao conhecidas agora cinco espécies de sycorax da Colombia.S. andicola Young,1979,S. colombiensis Young,1979,S,trispinosa Young 1979 e S.utriensis n.sp., Una nueva especie de Sycorax (Diptera, Psychodidae, sycoracinae) de la costa pacífica de Colombia. Sycorax utriensis n. sp. se describe e ilustra a partir de un espécimen macho recolectado con una trampa de luz CDC en el Parque Nacional Natural Ensenada de Utría, en la costa pacífica de Colombia. Ahora se conocen cinco especies de sicorax de Colombia, S.andicola Young, 1979, S.colombiensis Young, 1979, S.trispinosa Young, 1979 y S. utriensis n.sp.

The Dorylinae subfamily are dominant invertebrate predators in tropical and subtropical terrestrial ecosystems. The most cryptic army ant genus of the New World is Cheliomyrmex. The only specie recognized until now to the Amazon Brazilian Basin is C. andicola , with record in the state of Acre. We provided the first record of Cheliomyrmex megalonyx to Brazil in the Amazon Basin. This record strongly reinforces the idea that more efforts are needed to reveal the diversity, distribution and biology of such hypogaeic ants.

Workers of the genus Cheliomyrmex are unique among the New world army ants (subfamily Ecitoninae) in that their mandibles are armed with elongate, spine-like teeth. We present the first prey records for this genus. Cheliomyrmex andicola prey on large-bodied ground dwelling invertebrates and, possibly, on vertebrates. Unlike other army ants, C. andicola workers use their sting during prey capture. The workers’ unusual mandibles and potent stings may be adapted for piercing and gripping the integument of nonarthropod prey animals, and for rapidly subduing large-bodied prey, respectively. The genus Cheliomyrmex may be the sister taxon to other Neotropical army ants (Ecitoninae), and Cheliomyrmex shares features of mandibular morphology and prey selection with Old World driver ants in the genus Dorylus. Mass cooperative foraging, an important element of army ant behavior, may have arisen in part as an adaptation for exploiting large-bodied prey.

The biology of the 10 species of Leucophora (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) recorded in the Neotropics remains unknown. The large majority of the studied species so far are kleptoparasites of bees and wasps. Here, we report the first observations of Leucophora andicola (Bigot) and Leucophora peullae (Malloch) visiting the nests of ground-nesting sweat bees Corynura (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) in Chilean Patagonia. Females of both species perch on small stones or sticks within a dense nest aggregation of the bees and then track pollen-loaded bees in flight with great precision, eventually following them into their nests. The overall behavior closely resembles that observed for many other species of the genus. Excavations of some bee nests returned only two dipteran puparia, possibly of Leucophora, suggesting a low parasitism rate. One male of L. peullae was also collected at the bee aggregation. This is the first report of host association for any Leucophora from the Neotropics and the first report of any anthomyiid fly associated with augochlorine bees.

Juncus arcticus var. andicola is native to the Andean region. Its stems are used to make handicrafts by the rural mestizo population of Cotopaxi province in Ecuador. These products are sold at traditional markets along the Andes of Ecuador. The plant is of great economic importance in the modest lives of the artisans. Totorilla has been cultivated by this rural population. It is cultivated in pools and sometimes wild populations are managed. The area of production is 1.5 ha. One woven item can be made from a 0.35 m2 totorilla stand area. A 100 m2 yielded 850 woven items annually, bringing in a gross income of U.S. $1275 per year, corresponding to 66% of the official minimum salary in Ecuador. The plant also provides a good source of cattle fodder during periods of drought.

Six new Laboulbeniales (Ascomycetes) parasitic on Staphylinidae (Insecta, Coleoptera) are described. These are Cantharomyces pacei, on Spanioda andicola (Aleocharinae) from Chile; Dimorphomyces phi...

The genera Mitragenius, Auladera and Patagonogenius gen. n. (Pimeliinae: Nycteliini), distributed in Argentina and central Chile, are revised and a cladistic analysis including 20 species is conducted. The cladistic sequence revealed that former Mitragenius is polyphyletic, requiring removal of seven species to a new genus, described herein as Patagonogenius. Mitragenius comprises nine species: M. tristis Kulzer, M. costatus Kulzer, M. araneiformis Curtis, M. coarcticollis Fairmaire, M. nudus Berg, M. hirtulus Kulzer, M. planicollis sp. n., M. obscuratus Peña and M. dejeanii Solier. Auladera includes four species: A. crenicosta (Guérin), A. andicola (Lacordaire), A. rugicollis (Philippi & Philippi) stat. rev. andA. atronitens Kulzer. Patagonogenius comprises seven species: P. breviangulus (Kulzer) comb. n., P. gentilii (Peña) comb. n., P. quadricollis (Fairmaire) comb. n. (type species), P. collaris (Kulzer) comb. n., P. acutangulus (Kulzer) comb. n., P. kulzeri (Marcuzzi) comb. n. and P. elegans (Peña) comb. n. Mitragenius pusillus Marcuzzi is synonymized with Patagonogenius collaris (Kulzer) and Auladera andicola rugicollis (Philippi & Philippi) is elevated to species status. The paper includes a cladogram, a discussion of the phylogeny of the three genera, redescriptions or descriptions of the three genera and of their 20 species, four dichotomous keys, habitus photographs, drawings of genitalic features and distribution maps.

This revision describes, illustrates and documents morphological variation inDoniophyton (Compositae, Barnadesioideae), restricted to Argentina and Chile. Two species are recognized,D. anomalum andD. weddellii (sp. nova), possessing distinct morphological and chromosomal features, elevational tolerances, and nearly allopatric distributions.Doniophyton weddellii occurs primarily in central to northern Andean Chile and Argentina from 1900–4000 m a. s. l.;D. anomalum is found principally in centralwestern Argentina and south into Patagonia at 0–1800 m a. s. l. Close relationship exists withChuquiraga of subfam.Barnadesioideae. It is hypothesized thatDoniophyton evolved out ofChuquiraga in the high central Andes between Chile and Argentina. It is suggested thatD. weddellii differentiated first, correlating with an aneuploid chromosomal decrease from n = 27 (inChuquiraga) to n = 25. Further evolution and chromosomal decrease to n = 24 resulted inD. anomalum, with accompanying migration into southern Andes and Patagonia. Nomenclatural changes result from examination of protologues and type specimens:Doniophyton anomalum replaces the commonly used nameD. patagonicum, and a new species,D. weddellii, is described for the taxon masquerading under the routinely used superfluous nameD. andicola.

The karyotype of Rhodolirium speciosum (Herb.) Ravenna and R. andícola (Poepp.) Ravenna were examined. The species have 2n = 2x = 16 chromosomes, with 4m + 3sm + 1st chromosomes. Both species present a very different karyotype in comparison to other Amaryllidaceae from Chile.

Investigations of corticolous fungi in Patagonia have revealed the existence of a new species of Hysterium. H. andinense sp. nov. is described and compared to the related species. H. andicola is synonymized with H. insidens.

Anthidianum andicola sp. n. (from Argentina, Tilcara), is described; a description of the male of Chrisanthidium nigritum Urban, 1997 is presented and Anthidianum bizonatum (Friese, 1925) is considered as junior synonym of Anthidianum subpetiolatum (Schrottky, 1910).

The genus Trypanidius Blanchard, 1846 includes 15 species in the Neotropical Region, nine of which occur in South America. In this contribution, the genus and South American species are redescribed and Trypanidius mimicavus sp. nov. is described from Bolivia. New distributional data are given for T. andicola Blanchard, 1846; T. dimidiatus Thomson, 1860; and T. notatus (Fabricius, 1787). All species are illustrated and a key to all species is provided.

Culicoides suarezi Rodriguez and Wirth, NEW SPECIES, is described from 3230 m elevation on Monserrate near Bogota, Columbia, where it was collected while biting man. A key is presented to distinguish the 4 described species of the andicola group of the subgenus Avaritia, to which the new species belongs. All are anthropophilic and confined to the paramo regions of the Colombian Andes.