A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical myrmicine ant genus Lachnomyrmex wheeler (Hymenoptera : Formicidae)

The Neotropical ant genus Lachnomyrmex Wheeler, 1910 is revised for the first time. A revised generic description is provided for workers and gynes; males remain unknown. Morphological patterns combined with geographical data led to the recognition of 16 species, of which 10 are here described as new: L. amazonicus sp. n., L. fernandezi sp. n., L. grandis Fernandez & Baena, L. haskinsi Smith, L. lattkei sp. n., L. longinodus Fernandez & Baena, L. longinoi sp. n., L. mackayi sp. n., L. nordestinus sp. n., L. pilosus Weber, L. laticeps sp. n., L. platynodus sp. n., L. plaumanni Borgmeier, L. regularis sp. n., L. scrobiculatus Wheeler, and L. victori sp. n. The gynes of L. grandis, L. haskinsi, and L. pilosus are described for the first time. Illustrated identification keys for workers, distribution maps, and high resolution illustrations are supplied for all species. Some Lachnomyrmex species are relatively common in the leaf-litter of submontane wet forests in Central and South America; others remain known by very few individuals. The relatively small and apparently monogynic Lachnomyrmex colonies inhabit small nests in the ground, among rotten leaves and inside fallen logs. Workers generally forage alone on the ground or within the leaf litter, but have been recorded also on tree trunks, and apparently do not recruit nestmates.

Cryptic species in Iphisa elegans Gray, 1851 (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) revealed by hemipenial morphology and molecular data

Iphisa elegans Gray, 1851 is a ground-dwelling lizard widespread over Amazonia that displays a broadly conserved external morphology over its range. This wide geographical distribution and conservation of body form contrasts with the expected poor dispersal ability of the species, the tumultuous past of Amazonia, and the previously documented prevalence of cryptic species in widespread terrestrial organisms in this region. Here we investigate this homogeneity by examining hemipenial morphology and conducting phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial (CYTB) and nuclear (C-MOS) DNA sequence data from 49 individuals sampled across Amazonia. We detected remarkable variation in hemipenial morphology within this species, with multiple cases of sympatric occurrence of distinct hemipenial morphotypes. Phylogenetic analyses revealed highly divergent lineages corroborating the patterns suggested by the hemipenial morphotypes, including co-occurrence of different lineages. The degrees of genetic and morphological distinctness, as well as instances of sympatry among mtDNA lineages/morphotypes without nuDNA allele sharing, suggest that I. elegans is a complex of cryptic species. An extensive and integrative taxonomic revision of the I. elegans complex throughout its wide geographical range is needed. (c) 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 166, 361376.

Engineering geological data in support of municipal land use planning-a case study in Analandia, southeast Brazil

This paper presents a method for transforming the information of an engineering geological map into useful information for non-specialists involved in land-use planning. The method consists of classifying the engineering geological units in terms of land use capability and identifying the legal and the geologic restrictions that apply in the study area. Both informations are then superimposed over the land use and a conflict areas map is created. The analysis of these data leads to the identification of existing and forthcoming land use conflicts and enables the proposal of planning measures on a regional and local scale. The map for the regional planning was compiled at a 1:50,000 scale and encompasses the whole municipal land area where uses are mainly rural. The map for the local planning was compiled at a 1:10,000 scale and encompasses the urban area. Most of the classification and operations on maps used spatial analyst tools available in the Geographical Information System. The regional studies showed that the greater part of Analandia's territory presents appropriate land uses. The local-scale studies indicate that the majority of the densely occupied urban areas are in suitable land. Although the situation is in general positive, municipal policies should address the identified and expected land use conflicts, so that it can be further improved.

Haplotype frequencies based on eight polymorphic sites at the 3' untranslated region of the HLA-G gene in individuals from two different geographical regions of Brazil

The Brazilian population represents an admixture of native Amerindians, Portuguese settlers and Africans who were brought as slaves during the colonization period that began in the 16th century and was followed by waves of immigrations of Europeans and Asians in the 20th century. The contribution of these different ethnic groups to the constitution of Brazilian populations from different geographic regions is variable and, in addition to environmental factors, might act by determining different allele profiles among Brazilian populations from different regions. We studied polymorphic sites at the 3' untranslated region of the HLA-G gene in individuals from a Northeastern Brazilian region and compared them to our previously published data about a Southeastern Brazilian region, located at a distance of 2589 km. Our results showed that most polymorphic sites present a similar distribution in both populations, except for the lower frequency of the +3003C allele in the Northeastern population compared to the Southeastern population. Although differences in genotypic distribution were only significant for the +3003 locus (P = 0.0201), the diversity of haplotypes was distinct for each population. These results are important for casecontrol studies on the association of human leucocyte antigen-G polymorphism with disease and also in terms of the genetic structure of two distinct Brazilian populations.

Geographical distribution of American cutaneous leishmaniasis and its phlebotomine vectors (Diptera: Psychodidae) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract Background American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is a re-emerging disease in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is important to understand both the vector and disease distribution to help design control strategies. As an initial step in applying geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) tools to map disease-risk, the objectives of the present work were to: (i) produce a single database of species distributions of the sand fly vectors in the state of São Paulo, (ii) create combined distributional maps of both the incidence of ACL and its sand fly vectors, and (iii) thereby provide individual municipalities with a source of reference material for work carried out in their area. Results A database containing 910 individual records of sand fly occurrence in the state of São Paulo, from 37 different sources, was compiled. These records date from between 1943 to 2009, and describe the presence of at least one of the six incriminated or suspected sand fly vector species in 183/645 (28.4%) municipalities. For the remaining 462 (71.6%) municipalities, we were unable to locate records of any of the six incriminated or suspected sand fly vector species (Nyssomyia intermedia, N. neivai, N. whitmani, Pintomyia fischeri, P. pessoai and Migonemyia migonei). The distribution of each of the six incriminated or suspected vector species of ACL in the state of São Paulo were individually mapped and overlaid on the incidence of ACL for the period 1993 to 1995 and 1998 to 2007. Overall, the maps reveal that the six sand fly vector species analyzed have unique and heterogeneous, although often overlapping, distributions. Several sand fly species - Nyssomyia intermedia and N. neivai - are highly localized, while the other sand fly species - N. whitmani, M. migonei, P. fischeri and P. pessoai - are much more broadly distributed. ACL has been reported in 160/183 (87.4%) of the municipalities with records for at least one of the six incriminated or suspected sand fly vector species, while there are no records of any of these sand fly species in 318/478 (66.5%) municipalities with ACL. Conclusions The maps produced in this work provide basic data on the distribution of the six incriminated or suspected sand fly vectors of ACL in the state of São Paulo, and highlight the complex and geographically heterogeneous pattern of ACL transmission in the region. Further studies are required to clarify the role of each of the six suspected sand fly vector species in different regions of the state of São Paulo, especially in the majority of municipalities where ACL is present but sand fly vectors have not yet been identified.