Description of Micropygomyia (Sauromyia) vonatzingeni sp. nov. (Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) from the states of Pará and Tocantins, Brazil

Both sexes of a new phlebotomine sandfly species Micropygomyia (Sauromyia) vonatzingeni sp. nov. (Diptera, Psychodidae), captured in the Serra das Andorinhas, São Geraldo do Araguaia municipality, Pará state, and Cavalcante municipality, Tocantins state, Brazil, are described and illustrated. This new species belongs to the oswaldoi series and its distinction from the other extant species of the series was made by male and female identification keys. The specific geographical distribution of the oswaldoi series by country and department (or state) is presented.

Local distribution of blackfly (Diptera, Simuliidae) larvae in two adjacent streams: the role of water current velocity in the diversity of blackfly larvae

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of water velocity speed on the local distribution and taxocenosis structure of blackfly larvae. The larvae were collected from two adjacent streams located in the municipality of Angra dos Reis (RJ): Caputera River and one of its tributaries. Riffle litter patches were sampled randomly using a 30 x 30 cm quadrat. Four blackfly species were found: Simulium incrustatum s. l. Lutz, 1910; Simulium (Inaequalium) sp. ; Simulium pertinax s. l. Kollar, 1832 and Simulium subpallidum s. l. Lutz, 1909. Among these species, Simulium pertinax s. l. was clearly associated with higher water current speeds, while Simulium subpallidum s. l. showed association with lower water velocities, and Simulium (Inaequalium) sp. had a relatively constant distribution along the water current gradient.

Diversity of Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera) in riparian forests of southern Brazil: taller forests, more bugs

Riparian forests are important features of any ecosystem, especially on grassland and savannah vegetation types. However, riparian forests in southernmost Brazil have received much less attention than elsewhere. This is the first quantitative study of pentatomoid (Hemiptera) diversity in the Pampa biome, surveying riparian forests of brooks and rivers in the environs of the municipality of Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil. The aim was two-fold: taxonomic characterization of the fauna and a primary ecological study of bug diversity. Sweeping net and beating tray were used to sample trees and shrubs on the border of sampling sites; sampling was carried out during three consecutive days, from March 28th to 30th 2006. Overall 154 individuals of 32 species of Pentatomoidea were captured, almost all species are new records for the local fauna. Taller forest canopy sites had higher abundance overall and higher species richness than shorter forest canopy sites. Of the 32 species, 11 were singletons and four were doubletons. There were no differences for pentatomoid species composition between the two environments differing in vegetation structure. Association to the Pampa biome of the most abundant species found are discussed. Although based on a rapid assessment protocol of faunal inventories, our results add important bioecological information to the pentatomoid fauna of the Pampa biome, especially associated to riparian forests.

A new species of Seira Lubbock (Collembola, Entomobryidae), with a key to the species of Paraíba, Brazil

A new species of Entomobryidae of the genus Seira Lubbock, S. paraibensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated. The type locality of the species is the municipality of Areia, state of Paraíba, Brazil. The species was found inhabiting the Atlantic forest litter and top soil environment. S. paraibensis sp. nov. resembles S. pseudoannulata in many morphological features. This is the sixth species of the genus found and described in Paraiba so far. A key with the 11 species of Seira registered so far in Paraíba is provided. Also a list with all species of the genus from Brazil is presented.

Navicordulia aemulatrix sp. nov. (Odonata, Corduliidae) from northeastern Santa Catarina State, Brazil

Navicordulia aemulatrix sp. nov. (holotype male deposited in MZSP: Brazil, Santa Catarina State, [São Bento do Sul municipality, 26°14'58"S, 49°22'59"W], [railroad station] Rio Vermelho, II.1952) is described and illustrated based on three males. The long cercus (2.9-3.2 mm) places this species in the longistyla-group together with N. kiautai, N. longistyla and N. nitens but it differs from them mainly by the shape of cercus, with carinated part occupying 0.33 of cercus total length, and also by dorsal, ventro-medial and ventro-lateral tubercles developed. An unusual process on tergal portion of prothorax is reported for the first time in Navicordulia. The rate of description of new species of South American 'Corduliidae' is discussed. A map with records of Atlantic Forest Navicordulia species and a list of Brazilian corduliids by state are also presented.

Phlebotomines (Diptera, Psychodidae) in the Speleological Province of the Ribeira Valley: 3. Serra district - area of hostels for tourists who visit the Parque Estadual do Alto Ribeira (PETAR), state of São Paulo, Brazil

Phlebotomines (Diptera, Psychodidae) in the Speleological Province of the Ribeira Valley: 3. Area of hostels for tourists who visit the Parque Estadual do Alto Ribeira (PETAR), state of São Paulo, Brazil. The study characterizes some ecological aspects of the phlebotomine fauna in an endemic area of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) situated in the Serra district, Iporanga municipality where the hostels for tourists visiting the PETAR are located. Captures were undertaken on a smallholding and a small farm situated near the hostels, monthly between January/2001 and December/2003 with automatic light traps (ALT) in pigsty, hen-house and veranda of a domicile at the two sites, and in peridomicile of the small farm also with black/white Shannon traps. With the ALT a total of 87,224 phlebotomines representing 19 species and also two hybrids of Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva) and Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto) and two anomalous specimens were captured. The standardized index species abundance was for Ny. intermedia = 1.0 and Ny. neivai = 0.935. The highest frequencies of the smallholding occurred in the pigsty, the Williams' mean/capture for Ny. intermedia being 63.7 specimens and for Ny. neivai 29.2, and on the small farm, in the hen-house, Ny. intermedia 402.6 and Ny. neivai 116.2. A total of 863 phlebotomines (Ny. intermedia: 75.4%; Ny. neivai: 24.3%) were captured with black/white Shannon traps; females of both species being predominant in the white trap. The high frequencies of Ny. intermedia and Ny. neivai, both implicated in CL transmission, indicate the areas presenting risk of the disease.

Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva) and Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto) (Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) in a sympatric area: seasonal and nocturnal hourly rhythm in black and white modified Shannon traps

Captures with black and white Shannon traps were undertaken to identify aspects of the behavior of the two cryptic and sympatric species implicated as vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis, Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) and Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto, 1926). The traps were installed side by side, monthly, from July 2001 to June 2002, from 18 to 07 hours, in a peridomicile of Iporanga municipality, state of São Paulo, Brazil. A total of 2,142 specimens were captured, Ny. intermedia (47.4%) and Ny. neivai (50.5%). The white trap was more attractive to both sexes of both species. Males of Ny. neivai predominated (70%) over those of Ny. intermedia on the two traps; on the black trap, the females of Ny. intermedia predominated (63.3%) over those of Ny. neivai (36.7%). Seventy percent of the specimens of both species were captured between 18 and 24 h. Females of Ny. intermedia presented the highest peak at 19-20 h, and those of Ny. neivai at 20-21 h. The highest hourly average for females of Ny. intermedia on the black trap occurred in the winter and that for males in the summer. For Ny. neivai, both sexes predominated in the summer. The two species probably transmit the cutaneous leishmaniasis in the area due to their great predominance.

Seasonality in insect abundance in the "Cerrado" of Goiás State, Brazil

Seasonality in insect abundance in the "Cerrado" of Goiás State, Brazil. Many studies have provided evidence that tropical insects undergo seasonal changes in abundance and that this is partly due to alternation between the dry and rainy seasons. In the Brazilian "Cerrado" (savannah), this season alternation is particularly evident. The purpose of this work was to study the seasonal abundance of insects in a "Cerrado" area in the municipality of Pirenópolis, Goiás State, Brazil. The insects were captured fortnightly using a light trap between September 2005 and August 2006. The insects collected were separated at the order level and counted. Faunistic analysis was performed to select the predominant insect orders, a multiple linear regression to examine the relation between climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) with the abundance of insects and a circular distribution analysis to evaluate the existence of seasonality in the abundance of insect orders. A total of 34,741 insect specimens were captured, belonging to 19 orders. The orders with the greatest number of specimens were Hymenoptera (8,022), Coleoptera (6,680), Diptera (6,394), Lepidoptera (6,223), Isoptera (2,272), Hemiptera (2,240) and Trichoptera (1,967), which represent 97.3% of all the specimens collected. All the orders, except for Diptera, Isoptera and Trichoptera, showed a relationship with the climate variables (temperature), and all the orders, except for Diptera, presented a grouped distribution, with greater abundance in the transition from the end of the dry season (September) to the start of the rainy one (October/November). A discussion about seasonality on the abundance of the insects is presented.

First report of Oxysternon silenus Castelnau (Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae, Phanaeini) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

First report of Oxysternon silenus Castelnau (Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae, Phanaeini) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. This is the first record of Oxysternon silenus in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Specimens were collected in the Serra Grande landscape, municipality of Ibateguara, in Alagoas State. The samples were done from August 17 to 19, 2007 with pitfall traps. Before the present study, Oxysternon silenus had been reported predominantly in Amazonian region. The finding of this species corroborates the hypothesis of the biogeographical relationships between the Amazon Rainforest and the Atlantic Forest.

A new species of Sycorax Curtis, 1839 from Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil

A new species of Sycorax Curtis, 1839 (Diptera, Psychodidae) from the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil. Sycorax bravoi Santos, Ferreira & Falqueto sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on samples collected with a Möricke trap installed on the ground at the Biological Station of Santa Lúcia, municipality of Santa Teresa, in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. Males have a paramere with a spiniform prolongation on the distal surface and an aedeagus with a long posterior membranous dorsal prolongation. Females have a racket-shaped genital furca and tubular spermatheca, tapered on the apical third. This finding raises the number of Sycorax species known from Brazil to seven.

Social wasps of two Cerrado localities in the northeast of Maranhão state, Brazil (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae)

Social wasps of two Cerrado localities in the northeast of Maranhão state, Brazil (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae). Results are presented of a survey of social wasps from two savanna localities 30 km apart from each other in the northeastern part of the Brazilian state of Maranhão, Brazil: village of Bom Jesus (municipality of Urbano Santos) and village of Tabocas (municipality of Barreirinhas). Two hundred and twenty-seven nests of 31 species of 13 genera were found and mapped. Polybia rejecta was the species with the largest average density of colonies/ha in both areas. The similarity (Jaccard's index) between the Tabocas and Bom Jesus faunas was 41.9%. Twenty-seven species of plants were utilized as nesting substrate. In Tabocas, Qualea parviflora Mart. (Vochysiaceae) trees were used as substrate by 30.3% of the wasp colonies. In Bom Jesus, the vast majority of colonies (27.9%) were found in a secondary vegetation type, the so-called carrasco, indicator of vegetation change. The number of social wasp species recorded in this study is similar to others obtained in several areas of Cerrado vegetation in Brazil. Nine species are new to Maranhão, and Mischocyttarus cerberus had its distribution confirmed, increasing to 58 the number of species known to occur in that state.

Crepuscular activity of culicids (Diptera, Culicidae) in the peridomicile and in the remaining riparian forest in Tibagi river, State of Paraná, Brazil

Crepuscular activity of culicids (Diptera, Culicidae) in the peridomicile and in the remaining riparian forest in Tibagi river, State of Paraná, Brazil. Human-attracted mosquitoes were collected for one hour, around sunset time (half hour before and half after), from April to December 2006, in two environments (riparian forest and near houses), in Tibagi river basin, Palmeira municipality, State of Paraná. Seven-hundred forty-nine mosquitoes, belonging to 13 species, were collected. Psorophora champerico Dyar & Knab, 1906 (42.86%) and Psorophora discrucians (Walker, 1856) (40.59%) were the most frequent species. No significant differences between quantities of Ps. champerico (t = -0.792; d.f. = 16; p = 0.43) and Ps. discrucians (t = 0.689; d.f. = 16; p = 0.49) obtained in riparian forest and near houses were observed, indicating similar conditions for crepuscular activity of these species in both environments. Psorophora champerico and Ps. discrucians responded (haematophagic activity) to environmental stimuli associated with the twilight hours differently in distinct habitats studied. The former species is registered for the first time in the Atlantic forest biome.

First record of Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera, Calliphoridae) from Brazil

First record of Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera, Calliphoridae) from Brazil. In addition to its native fauna, the Neotropical region is known to be inhabited by four introduced species of blow flies of the genus Chrysomya. Up until now, only three of these species have been recorded in Brazil - Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius), and Chrysomya putoria (Wiedemann). In South America, C. rufifacies (Macquart) has only been reported from Argentina and Colombia. This study records C. rufifacies from Brazil for the first time. The specimens were collected in an area of cerrado (savanna-like vegetation) in the municipality of Caxias in state of Maranhão, and were attracted by pig carcasses.

Veliidae (Insecta, Heteroptera, Gerromorpha) from southeastern Brazil: three new species from Rio de Janeiro State, a new species group for Neotropical Rhagovelia Mayr, and notes on distribution and synonymy

Microvelia nelsoni sp. nov., M. takiyae sp. nov., and Rhagovelia mangaratiba sp. nov. are described. Rhagovelia scitula and R. whitei are transferred from the robusta group to the new whitei group. Rhagovelia denticulata is synonymized under R. scitula. Microvelia longipes, Oiovelia brasiliensis, Rhagovelia sooretama, R. trianguloides, R. vaniniae, and Stridulivelia quadrispinosa are recorded for the first time from Rio de Janeiro State. Additional new municipality records in Rio de Janeiro State are presented for Microvelia braziliensis, M. ioana, M. mimula, M. pulchella, Paravelia basalis, P. itatiayana, Rhagovelia accedens, R. agra, R. aiuruoca, R. elegans, R. hambletoni, R. henryi, R. itatiaiana, R. lucida, R. macta, R. modesta, R. novana, R. scitula, R. tenuipes, R. tijuca, R. triangula, and R. zela. Corrections are presented for the previously published distributions of Rhagovelia aiuruoca, R. lucida, R. macta, and R. triangula.

Spatial evaluation of larvae of Culicidae (Diptera) from different breeding sites: application of a geospatial method and implications for vector control

Spatial evaluation of Culicidae (Diptera) larvae from different breeding sites: application of a geospatial method and implications for vector control. This study investigates the spatial distribution of urban Culicidae and informs entomological monitoring of species that use artificial containers as larval habitats. Collections of mosquito larvae were conducted in the São Paulo State municipality of Santa Bárbara d' Oeste between 2004 and 2006 during house-to-house visits. A total of 1,891 samples and nine different species were sampled. Species distribution was assessed using the kriging statistical method by extrapolating municipal administrative divisions. The sampling method followed the norms of the municipal health services of the Ministry of Health and can thus be adopted by public health authorities in disease control and delimitation of risk areas. Moreover, this type of survey and analysis can be employed for entomological surveillance of urban vectors that use artificial containers as larval habitat.