A new genus and species of gall midge (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) associated with Microgramma vacciniifolia (Langsd. & Fisch.) Copel. (Polypodiaceae) from Brazil

A new genus and species of gall midge (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) associated with Microgramma vacciniifolia (Langsd. & Fisch.) Copel. (Polypodiaceae) from Brazil. A new gall midge genus Primadiplosis Maia, gen. nov. and a new species, P. microgrammae Maia,sp. nov., that induces galls on stems of the fern Microgramma vacciniifolia (Langsd. & Fisch.) Copel. are described from Brazil (larva, pupa, male, female, and gall).

A new species and redescriptions of three species of Atractosomus Lacordaire from Brazil (Elateridae, Elaterinae)

A new species, Atractosomus amazonicus sp. nov. is described and three species, A. robustus Candèze, 1859, A. carinatus Candèze, 1859 and A. conicicollis Candèze, 1859 are redescribed and illustrated. A comparison among these species and with the type-species, A. flavescens (Germar 1839) is presented. A.amazonicus sp. nov. and A. robustus belong to group of species with 3rd and 4th antennomeres equal in size and the other studied species, to group with 3rd antennomere smaller than 4th.

Revision of Central American species of Euryomma Stein (Diptera, Fanniidae), with description of two new species and updates of distributional records

Euryomma is the second largest genus within Fanniidae, but only two species, E. panamensis Chillcott, 1958 and E. rettenmeyeri Chillcott, 1958 have been recorded in Central America. In this paper we describe two new species of the genus found in Costa Rica, Euryomma chillcotti sp. nov. (Province of Puntarenas) and Euryomma steini sp. nov. (Provinces of Cartago and Limón). Euryomma tahami Grisales, Wolff & Carvalho, 2012 is recorded for the first time to Costa Rica. Identification key to all species found in Central America, descriptions and re-descriptions of species occurring in the region and illustrations of the terminalia of new species are presented.

Tortopus Needham & Murphy and Tortopsis Molineri (Ephemeroptera, Polymitarcyidae) new species and new records from Brazil and Ecuador

Tortopus Needham & Murphy, 1924 and Tortopsis Molineri, 2010 with six and 10 species, respectively, are sister genera distributed in the Neartic and Neotropical regions. In spite that most species are known from the tropics of South America, only one species of each of these groups have been recorded from Brazil. Here we present distributional data expanding greatly the range of these groups including three new country records for Brazil: Tortopus igaranus Needham & Murphy, 1924, Tortopsis limoncocha Molineri, 2010 and Tortopsis spatula Molineri, 2010. We describe a distinct new species, Tortopus ipixuna sp. nov., from male imagos, that present a unique subrectangular pedestal. Additionally we redescribe the male imago of Tortopus harrisi Traver, 1950 (previously known only from the holotype), and we give the first records for Tortopsis canum Gonçalves, Da-Silva & Nessimian, 2011 from Espírito Santo and for Tortopsis spatula from Ecuador. Some variations in morphological structures of these species are also described, illustrated and discussed.

Fauna of Simuliidae (Diptera) from the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil: distribution, new records and list of species

Fauna of Simuliidae (Diptera) from the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil: Distribution, new records and list of species. The fauna of Simuliidae in Brazil is composed of 87 species, 17 of which are recorded from the state of Espírito Santo. Entomological collections were carried out in 2010-2011 with the objective of increasing the knowledge of the species richness of this family in the state. Ninety three rivers and streams were sampled, each collection being carried out in a 50m transect. During the study period 30 species were collected, 13 of which represent new records for the state, 12 of the genus Simulium and one of the genus Lutzsimulium. Among these new state records one, Simulium lobatoi, also represents a new record from southeastern Brazil. The other newly recorded species are: Lutzsimulium hirticosta, Simulium distinctum, Simulium exiguum, Simulium oyapockense, Simulium botulibranchium, Simulium petropoliense, Simulium clavibranchium, Simulium rappae, Simulium minusculum, Simulium dinellii, Simulium ochraceum and Simulium scutistriatum.

Taxonomic key for the genera of Elmidae (Coleoptera, Byrrhoidea) occurring in Goiás State, Brazil, including new records and distributional notes

A taxonomic key for the genera of Elmidae (Coleoptera, Byrrhoidea) occurring in Goiás State, Brazil, including new records and distributional notes. Despite their great diversity and high abundance in Neotropical aquatic environments, the fauna of Elmidae remains practically unknown in some areas and even entire biomes in this region. In this work we bring, for the first time, faunistic data for the Elmidae of central Brazil. The aim of this work was to inventory the Elmidae fauna in central, southwestern and southeastern Goiás State, Brazil and to produce a taxonomic key, at genus level, for adults from the studied region. The taxonomic key presented herein offers means for the identification of all the 13 genera known to occur in Goiás, 11 of them being new records for the State. Moreover, the number of named species registered for Goiás increased from one to nine.

A new genus and species of leaf miner (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) for Chile associated to the native tree Lithraea caustica

A new genus and species of leaf miner (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) for Chile associated to the native tree Lithraea caustica. We propose the new genus and species of Gracillariidae (Lepidoptera) Hualpenia lithraeophaga Mundaca, Parra &Vargas gen. nov., sp. nov., leaf miner of Lithraea caustica (Mol.) H. et Arn (Anacardiaceae) occurring in southern central Chile. Aspects of the life cycle, adult and larval morphology, development and feeding habits of the new genus and species are also presented. We emphasise the uniqueness and importance of this new species for broadening the current knowledge on the Chilean fauna of Gracillariidae.

Synopsis of the genus Exalphus Restello, Iannuzzi & Marinoni (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae), with description of a new species and new country records

Synopsis of the genus Exalphus Restello, Iannuzzi & Marinoni (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae), with description of a new species and new country records. A synopsis of Exalphus Restello et al., 2001 is presented. Exalphus solangeae sp. nov. is described from Brazil (Amazonas). A key to identification with illustrations for 14 species of the genus is provided, and notes on distribution with new records are included for nine species: E. biannulatus (Aurivillius, 1921), E. calvifrons (Bates, 1872), E. colasi (Lane, 1965), E. foveatus (Marinoni & Martins, 1978), E. gounellei (Lane, 1973), E. guaraniticus (Lane, 1955), E. leuconotus (Thomson, 1860), E. malleri (Lane, 1955) and E. spilonotus Restello, Iannuzzi & Marinoni, 2001.

Interaction between Tephritidae (Insecta, Diptera) and plants of the family Asteraceae: new host and distribution records for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Twenty species of Tephritidae (Diptera) are recorded in association with capitula of plants in the family Asteraceae. The Tephritidae genus Tetreuarestais registered for Rio Grande do Sul for the first time. Five species of Tephritidae are newly recorded for Rio Grande do Sul, and new hosts are recorded for the following fly species: Dioxyna chilensis (Macquart), Plaumannimyia dolores (Hering), Plaumannimyia imitatrix (Hering), Plaumannimyia miseta(Hering), Plaumannimyia pallensHering, Tomoplagia incompleta (Williston), Tomoplagia matzenbacheriPrado, Norrbom & Lewinsohn, Tomoplagia reimoseriHendel, Xanthaciura biocellata(Thomson) and Xanthaciura chrysura(Thomson).

Late Pan-African magmatism in the Himalaya: new geochronological and geochemical data from the Ordovician Tso Morari metagranites (Ladakh, NW India)

Two granitic plutons, the Tso Morari gneiss and the Rupshu metagranite, crop out in the Tso Morari area. The Polokongka La granite, classically interpreted as a young intrusion in the Tso Morari gneiss, has been recognized as the undeformed facies of the latter. Conventional isotope dilution U-Pb zircon dating on single-grain and small multi-grain fractions yielded magmatic ages of 479 +/- 2 Ma for the Tso Morari gneiss and the Polokongka La granite, and 482.5 +/- 1 Ma for the Rupshu granite. There is a great difference in zircon morphology between the Tso Morari gneiss (peraluminous type) and the Rupshu granite (alkaline type). This difference is confirmed by whole-rock chemistry. The Tso Morari gneiss is a typical deformed S-type granite, resulting from crustal anatexis. On the other hand, the Rupshu granite is an essentially metaluminous alkali-calcic intrusion derived from a different source material. Data compilation from other Himalayan Cambro-Ordovician granites reveals huge and widespread magmatic activity all along and beyond the northern Indian plate between 570 and 450 Ma, with a peak at 500-480 Ma. A major, continental-scale tectonic event is required to generate such a large magmatic belt; it has been tentatively compared to the Variscan post-orogenic extensional regime of Western Europe, as a late evolution stage of a Pan-African orogenic event.

Design of new promoters and of a dual-bioreporter based on cross-activation by the two regulatory proteins XylR and HbpR.

The HbpR protein is the sigma54-dependent transcription activator for 2-hydroxybiphenyl degradation in Pseudomonas azelaica. The ability of HbpR and XylR, which share 35% amino acid sequence identity, to cross-activate the PhbpC and Pu promoters was investigated by determining HbpR- or XylR-mediated luciferase expression and by DNA binding assays. XylR measurably activated the PhbpC promoter in the presence of the effector m-xylene, both in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida. HbpR weakly stimulated the Pu promoter in E. coli but not in P. azelaica. Poor HbpR-dependent activation from Pu was caused by a weak binding to the operator region. To create promoters efficiently activated by both regulators, the HbpR binding sites on PhbpC were gradually changed into the XylR binding sites of Pu by site-directed mutagenesis. Inducible luciferase expression from mutated promoters was tested in E. coli on a two plasmid system, and from mono copy gene fusions in P. azelaica and P. putida. Some mutants were efficiently activated by both HbpR and XylR, showing that promoters can be created which are permissive for both regulators. Others achieved a higher XylR-dependent transcription than from Pu itself. Mutants were also obtained which displayed a tenfold lower uninduced expression level by HbpR than the wild-type PhbpC, while keeping the same maximal induction level. On the basis of these results, a dual-responsive bioreporter strain of P. azelaica was created, containing both XylR and HbpR, and activating luciferase expression from the same single promoter independently with m-xylene and 2-hydroxybiphenyl.

The European sugar regime new legislation and wto rules

[cat] El 20 de febrer de 2006 es va aprovar el Reglament núm. 318/2006 del Consell que reforma l'Organització Comuna de Mercats del sucre. L'article analitza els canvis introduïts en el nou règim europeu del sucre i valora la seva adequació a les normes i demandes internacionals de liberalització del comerç agrícola. Es conclou que la reforma ha estat el mínim necessari per fer front als reptes internacionals: la recent resolució de l'Òrgan de Solució de Diferències de l'Organització Mundial del Comerç i les demandes de liberalització plantejades en el marc de la Ronda de Doha.