A clinico-epidemiological study of bites by spiders of the genus Phoneutria

From January, 1984 to December, 1996, 422 patients (ages 9 m-99 y, median 29 y) were admitted after being bitten by spiders which were brought and identified as Phoneutria spp. Most of the bites occurred at March and April months (29.2%), in the houses (54.5%), during the day (76.5%), and in the limbs (feet 40.9%, hands 34.3%). Upon hospital admission, most patients presented only local complaints, mainly pain (92.1%) and edema (33.1%) and were classified as presenting mild (89.8%), moderate (8.5%) and severe (0.5%) envenomation. Few patients (1.2%) did not present signs of envenomation. Severe accidents were only confirmed in two children (9 m, 3 y). Both developed acute pulmonary edema, and the older died 9 h after the accident. Patients more than 70 year-old had a significantly greater (p<0.05) frequency of moderate envenomations compared to the 10-70-year-old individuals. Proceedings to relief local pain were frequently performed (local anesthesia alone 32.0%, local anesthesia plus analgesics 20.6% and oral analgesics alone 25.1%). Only 2.3% of the patients (two cases classified as severe and eight as moderate, eight of them in children) were treated with i.v. antiarachnid antivenom. No antivenom early reaction was observed. In conclusion, accidents involving the genus Phoneutria are common in the region of Campinas, with the highest risk groups being children under 10 years of age and adults over 70 years of age. Cases of serious envenomation are rare (0.5%).

A structured inventory of spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) in natural and artificial forest gaps at Porto Urucu, Western Brazilian Amazonia

A preliminary survey of the spider fauna in natural and artificial forest gap formations at “Porto Urucu”, a petroleum/natural gas production facility in the Urucu river basin, Coari, Amazonas, Brazil is presented. Sampling was conducted both occasionally and using a protocol composed of a suite of techniques: beating trays (32 samples), nocturnal manual samplings (48), sweeping nets (16), Winkler extractors (24), and pitfall traps (120). A total of 4201 spiders, belonging to 43 families and 393 morphospecies, were collected during the dry season, in July, 2003. Excluding the occasional samples, the observed richness was 357 species. In a performance test of seven species richness estimators, the Incidence Based Coverage Estimator (ICE) was the best fit estimator, with 639 estimated species. To evaluate differences in species richness associated with natural and artificial gaps, samples from between the center of the gaps up to 300 meters inside the adjacent forest matrix were compared through the inspection of the confidence intervals of individual-based rarefaction curves for each treatment. The observed species richness was significantly higher in natural gaps combined with adjacent forest than in the artificial gaps combined with adjacent forest. Moreover, a community similarity analysis between the fauna collected under both treatments demonstrated that there were considerable differences in species composition. The significantly higher abundance of Lycosidae in artificial gap forest is explained by the presence of herbaceous vegetation in the gaps themselves. Ctenidae was significantly more abundant in the natural gap forest, probable due to the increase of shelter availability provided by the fallen trees in the gaps themselves. Both families are identified as potential indicators of environmental change related to the establishment or recovery of artificial gaps in the study area.

Palpimanid spiders from Guyana: new species of the genera Fernandezina and Otiothops (Araneae, Palpimanidae, Otiothopinae)

Two new species of the spider family Palpimanidae from Guyana are described: Fernandezina takutu, the first species of this genus known from this country andOtiothops giralunas, that seems to be the sister species of O. goloboffi Grismado, 1996 from northwestern Argentina.

Envia garciai, a new genus and species of mygalomorph spiders (Araneae, Microstigmatidae) from Brazilian Amazonia

The genus Envia, comprising only the new species Envia garciai, is proposed. These small mygalomorph spiders were abundantly collected in soil cores and litter samples in primary rain forests near Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.

Description of Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) falcaorum sp. n. (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae), a Fossil Sand Fly from Dominican Amber

A new species of sand fly, Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) falcaorum is described from an amber originated from the northern mountain range of Dominican Republic. The male sand fly specimen is well preserved and most features used in Phlebotominae taxonomy are seen with remarkable clarity.

The fossil tabanids (Diptera Tabanidae): when they began to appreciate warm blood and when they began transmit diseases?

A discussion of the known fossil tabanids (Diptera Tabanidae) is presented based on fossil evidence. This includes the origin of the hemathophagy in the Brachycera, more specifically for tabanids. Several tabanid species in the extant fauna are vectors for disease-producing organisms that affect humans and animals. Bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, protozoa, and filarial worms can be transmitted by them, causing such diseases as anthrax, tularemia, anaplasmosis, various forms of trypanosomiasis, Q fever, and filariasis. However, if tabanids are directly responsible for all of these diseases is not consensual and the known fossil evidence is presented here.

Fossil psychodoid flies and their relation to parasitic diseases

Psychodid sand flies are blood-sucking fly vectors of several parasitic diseases. The oldest definitive record of this group is from the Lower Cretaceous amber of Lebanon (circa -135 to -125 My), but the high diversity within this group supports the idea that the psychodoids originated much earlier in history. The palaeontology demonstrates that the Lower Cretaceous representatives of the different subfamilies of Psychodidae had similar morphology and were blood-feeders, which supports Hennig's hypothesis on the ground plan structure of this family. Historical relationship between sand flies and diseases is unclear up to the present time, but this relationship could be as old as the origin of psychodoids because of the blood-feeding life mode.

Relationships of new world Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) based on fossil evidence

The fossil record and systematics of phlebotomid sand flies, vectors of leishmaniasis and arbovirus in several regions of the world, strongly support that living genera existed long before the Oligocene (38 million years, myr). A common Phlebotominae ancestor was present in the Triassic period before the separations of continents (248 myr).

Molecular trees of trypanosomes incongruent with fossil records of hosts

Molecular trees of trypanosomes have confirmed conventionally accepted genera, but often produce topologies that are incongruent with knowledge of the evolution, systematics, and biogeography of hosts and vectors. These distorted topologies result largely from incorrect assumptions about molecular clocks. A host-based phylogenetic tree could serve as a broad outline against which the reasonability of molecular phylogenies could be evaluated. The host-based tree of trypanosomes presented here supports the " invertebrate first " hypothesis of trypansosome evolution, supports the monophyly of Trypanosomatidae, and indicates the digenetic lifestyle arose three times. An area cladogram of Leishmania supports origination in the Palaearctic during the Palaeocene.

Description of Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) brazilorum sp. nov. a new fossil species from the Dominican Republic (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae)

A sand fly fossil was found in amber, a vegetal resin, which allows all the external phlebotomine structures to be seen. The piece that contains the new species is 14 mm long ´ 8 mm wide ´ 3 mm high. All the structures from the head, thorax, and abdomen were examined under the microscope and measured with a calibrated micrometric eye-piece. The morphological aspects of the new species suggest its inclusion in the Pintomyia genus, Pifanomyia subgenus though it is not possible to include it in any of the series known for this subgenus. The presence of two atrophied spines on the gonostyles and gonocoxites without tufts of setae permit the exclusion of the new species from the other species of the subgenus Pifanomyia. The new species is named Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) brazilorum sp. nov.

Early Cretaceous trypanosomatids associated with fossil sand fly larvae in Burmese amber

Early Cretaceous flagellates with characters typical of trypanosomatids were found in the gut of sand fly larvae, as well as in surrounding debris, in Burmese amber. This discovery supports a hypothesis in which free-living trypanosomatids could have been acquired by sand fly larvae in their feeding environment and then carried transtadially into the adult stage. At some point in time, specific genera were introduced into vertebrates, thus establishing a dixenous life cycle.

Description of Micropygomyia brandaoi sp. n. (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae), a fossil phlebotomine from the Dominican Republic

The description of Micropygomyia brandaoi, a new species of fossil phlebotomine sand fly, is based on one male specimen obtained from Dominican amber of the Miocene period (20 million years). In this new species, the fifth palpal segment is long, the coxite lacks a setal tuft and the style shows four well-developed spines. This set of characters allowed us to place the new species in the genus Micropygomyia Barretto.

Biogeographic analysis of Crocidiinae (Diptera, Bombyliidae): finding congruence among morphological, molecular, fossil and paleogeographical data

Biogeographic studies dealing with Bombyliidae are rare in the literature and no information is available on its origin and early diversification. In this study, we found evidence from molecular phylogeny and from fossil record supporting a Middle Jurassic origin of the Bombylioidea, taken as a starting point to discuss the biogeography and diversification of Crocidiinae. Based on a previously published phylogenetic hypothesis, we performed a Brooks Parsimony Analysis (BPA) to discuss the biogeographical history of Crocidiinae lineages. This subfamily is mostly distributed over arid areas of the early components of the Gondwanaland: Chile and southern Africa, but also in southwestern Palaearctic and southwestern Nearctic. The vicariant events affecting the Crocidiinae biogeography at the generic level seems to be related to the sequential separation of a Laurasian clade from a Gondwanan clade followed by the splitting of the latter into smaller components. This also leads to a hypothesis of origin of the Crocidiinae in the Middle Jurassic, the same period in which other bombyliid lineages are supposed to have arisen and irradiated.

First record on Loxosceles laeta (Nicolet, 1849) (Araneae, Sicariidae) in the West Zone of São Paulo City, São Paulo, Brazil, and considerations regarding its geographic distribution

Loxosceles laeta spiders were captured in the West zone of São Paulo City, this being the first record of the specie in this area. Since loxoscelism is an important public health problem in the South region of Brazil, it is necessary to investigate the presence of this spider in São Paulo City.

Venomous and poisonous arthropods: identification, clinical manifestations of envenomation, and treatments used in human injuries

Abstract This review presents the main species of venomous and poisonous arthropods, with commentary on the clinical manifestations provoked by the toxins and therapeutic measures used to treat human envenomations. The groups of arthopods discussed include the class Arachnida (spiders and scorpions, which are responsible for many injuries reported worldwide, including Brazil); the subphylum Myriapoda, with the classes Chilopoda and Diplopoda (centipedes and millipedes); and the subphylum Hexapoda, with the class Insecta and the orders Coleoptera (beetles), Hemiptera (stink bugs, giant water bugs, and cicadas), Hymenoptera (ants, wasps, and bees), and Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).