Third report of the United States Entomological Commission, relating to the Rocky mountain locust, the western cricket, the army worm, canker worms, and the Hessian fly.

Includes index.

Die Geradflügler Mitteleuropas. Neuere Beobachtungen.

Mode of access: Internet.

Ecologia e história natural de população Hemidactylus agrius (Squamata: Gekkonidae) em área de Caatinga, com avaliação da distribuição das espécies nativas do gênero no nordeste do Brasil

The genus Hemidactylus Oken, 1817 has cosmopolite distribution, with three species occurring in Brazil, two of them native, H. brasilianus and H. agrius, and one exotic, H. mabouia. Considering the studies about ecology of lizards conducted in the Ecological Station of the Seridó, from 2001 to 2011, this study aimed (1) to re-evaluate the occurrence of the species of Hemidactylus in this ESEC; (2) to analyze ecological and biological aspects of the H. agrius population; and (3) to investigate the current and potential distribution of the native species of the genus in northeastern Brazil, analyzing the suitability of ESEC to this taxon. For the first two objectives, a sampling area consisting of five transects of 200 x 20 m, was inspected in alternating daily shifts for three consecutive days, from August 2012 to August 2013. For the latter objective, occurrence points of H. agrius and H. brasilianus from literature and from the database of Herpetological Collections of the UFRN and the UNICAMP were consulted to build predictive maps via the Maximum Entropy algorithm (MaxEnt). In ESEC Seridó, 62 H. agrius individuals were collected (25 females, 18 males and 19 juveniles), and two neonates were obtained from a communal nest incubated in the laboratory. No record was made for the other two species of the genus. Hemidactylus agrius demonstrated to be a nocturnal species specialized in habitats with rocky outcrops; but this species is generalist regarding microhabitat use. In the population studied, females had an average body length greater than males, and showed higher frequencies of caudal autotomy. Regarding diet, H. agrius is a moderately generalist species that consumes arthropods, especially insect larvae, Isoptera and Araneae; and vertebrates, with a case of cannibalism registered in the population. With respect to seasonal differences, only the number of food items ingested differed between seasons. The diet was similar between sexes, but ontogenetic differences were recorded for the total volume and maximum length of the food items. Significant relationships were found between lizard body/head size measurements and the maximum length of prey consumed. Cases of polydactyly and tail bifurcation were recorded in the population, with frequencies of 1.6% and 3.1%, respectively. In relation xv to the occurrence points of the native species, 27 were identified, 14 for H. agrius and 13 for H. brasilianus. The first species presented restricted distribution, while the second showed a wide distribution. In both models generated, the ESEC Seridó area showed medium to high suitability. The results of this study confirm the absence of H. brasilianus and H. mabouia this ESEC, and reveal H. agrius as a dietary opportunist and cannibal species. Further, the results confirm the distribution patterns shown by native species of Hemidactylus, and point ESEC Seridó as an area of probable occurrence for the species of the genus, the establishing of H. brasilianus and H. mabouia are probably limited by biotic factors, a fact yet little understood

Comunicaciones

En este primer número de comunicaciones en el año de 1978, el departamento de biología presenta el resultado de varias investigaciones que son el fruto del esfuerzo de algunos compañeros docentes,los cuales ofrecemos en las páginas de esta revista al mundo científico y al público en general, con el deseo de poder en alguna forma, contribuir al desarrollo agrícola, ecológico, florístico y etnobotánico del país y centro americano; pues en esta ocasión los resultados que presentamos se refieren a estas áreas.Entre ellos tenemos: “Notas Biológicas sobre Acontiothespis sp. (Orthoptera:Mantidae),un curioso insecto Mimético”, “Reporte preliminar de la temperatura del sub-suelo como un índice de las condiciones térmicas anual medias en montañas tropicales”, “Cráter del volcán de Santa Ana:análisis preliminar de dominancia y distribución de vegetación arbustiva y herbácea”, “Cerro Verde: análisis preliminar de la vegetación arbórea en zona de disturbio” y cultivo y algunos datos etnobotánico del loroco.