Immatures of Lamprosoma amethystinum Perty, 1832 (Chrysomelidae, Lamprosomatinae)

The genus Lamprosoma Kirby, 1818 includes 128 neotropical species and 54 of them are recorded from Brazil (Monros, 1960). The first species with a described larva was L. seraphinum Lacordaire. After that, larvae and pupae of three species were described: L. bicolor Kirby, 1818, L. chorisiae Monros, 1948 and L. azureum Germar, 1824. Fiebrig (1910) described the larva of L. seraphinum Lacordaire, collected on Teminalia hassleriana Chod. (Combretaceae) of Paraguay. Moreira (1913) described L. bicolor collected on Terminalia catappa L., in Rio de Janeiro. According to him, this tree was introduced from Molucas Islands, in Oceania. He also considered it probable that L. bicolor lived on one native species of Terminalia or on another species of Combretaceae and adaptated itself to live on Terminalia catappa. Monros (1949) described L. chorisiae collected on Chorisia speciosa and Ch. insignis [ Ceiba speciosa (A. St.-Hil., A. Juss. & Cambess.) Ravenna and Ceiba insignis (Kunth) P. E. Gibbs & J. Semir] (Bombacaceae) ("" palos borrachos"") in Tucuman. Caxambu and Almeida (1999) described L. azureum collected on Psidium cattleianum Sabine (Myrtaceae)(""araca""), in Parana state. Herein, the larva and pupa of L. amethystinum collected on Terminalia catappa amendoeira-da-praia"", "" chapeu-de-sol"") in Campinas, Sao Paulo state, are described and illustrated.

Ultraviolet-radiation-resistant isolates revealed cellulose-degrading species of Cellulosimicrobium cellulans (UVP1) and Bacillus pumilus (UVP4)

Among extremophiles, microorganisms resistant to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) have been known to produce a variety of metabolites (i.e., extremolytes). We hypothesized that natural microbial flora on elevated land (hills) would reveal a variety of UVR-resistant extremophiles and polyextremophiles with modulated proteins and enzymes that had biotechnological implications. Microorganisms Cellulosimicrobium cellulans UVP1 and Bacillus pumilus UVP4 were isolated and identified using 16S rRNA sequencing, and showed extreme UV resistance (1.03 x 106 and 1.71 x 105 similar to J/m2, respectively) from elevated land soil samples along with unique patterns of protein expression under UVR and non-UVR. A broad range of cellulolytic activity on carboxymethyl cellulose agar plates in C. cellulans UVP1 and B. pumilus UVP4 was revealed at varying pH, temperature, and inorganic salt concentration. Further, the microbial strain B. pumilus UVP4 showed the basic characteristics of a novel group: polyextremophiles with significance in bioenergy.

Two new land planarian species (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida) from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest harbors the world's richest areas of land planarians (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida). Nevertheless, the number of undiscovered species from this biological unit remains seemingly high. Herein we describe Geoplana piriana Almeida & Carbayo, sp. nov. from the state of Rio de Janeiro, and Geoplana tingauna Kishimoto & Carbayo, sp. nov. from the state of Santa Catarina. Each species shows a dorsum with a unique color pattern among Geoplaninae species. Their internal morphology also differs: G. piriana sp. nov. shows a unique combination of features, including an extrabulbar, non-bifurcated prostatic vesicle, a non-folded male atrium, a horizontal, cylindrical penis papilla, a female atrium anteriorly narrowed, and lined with an epithelium with multilayered aspect. Geoplana tingauna sp. nov. possesses a prostatic vesicle constituted of a pair of branches opening into the very distal portion of a tubular, unpaired portion, a feature not seen in other Geoplaninae species.