New record for the army ant Labidus mars (Formicidae: Ecitoninae) in the Atlantic Rain Forest of São Paulo State, Brazil

The occurrence of the army ant Labidus mars in Mogi das Cruzes (SP, Brazil) is recorded and includes additional information about the area, diet and foraging schedule of this rare army ant. This species of Ecitoninae was collected from two mature fruits of the Syagrus romanzoffiana (Arecaceae) and were probably in the foraging phase.

GIS_EM (Geographic information system for environmental monitoring) - A software implemented at Paulínia refinery (REPLAN) for management of environmental data

The computational program called GIS_EM (Geographic Information System for Environmental Monitoring), a software devised to manage geographic information for monitoring soil, surface, and ground water, developed for use in the Health, Safety, and Environment Division of Paulinia Refinery is presented. This program enables registering and management of alphanumeric information pertaining to specific themes such as drilling performed for sample collection and for installation of monitoring wells, geophysical and other tests, results of chemical analyses of soil, surface, and groundwater, as well as reference values providing orientation for soil and water quality, such as EPA, Dutch List, etc. Management of such themes is performed by means of alphanumeric search tools, with specific filters and, in the case of spatial search, through the selection of spatial elements (themes) in map view. Documents existing in digital form, such as reports, photos, maps, may be registered and managed in the network environment. As the system centralizes information generated upon environmental investigations, it expedites access to and search of documents produced and stored in the network environment, minimizing search time and the need to file printed documents. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting and Fall Showcase (Cincinnati, OH 10/30/2005-11/4/2005).

Distribution and habitat use of Sordellina punctata (Serpentes, Colubridae), with a new record from State of São Paulo, Brazil

Sordellina punctata occurs throughout south and southeastern Brazil in the Atlantic Forest domain (states of São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina). Records from the states of Rio de Janeiro and Mato Grosso do Sul are questionable. A new record from southwestern São Paulo extends its distribution west and northward, probably indicating a wider range in the past. Habitat use in S. punctata implies that it may be more associated with wetlands and other saturated areas than truly aquatics ones.

Evaluation of tropospheric and ionospheric effects on the geographic localization of data collection platforms

The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) is operating the Brazilian Environmental Data Collection System that currently amounts to a user community of around 100 organizations and more than 700 data collection platforms installed in Brazil. This system uses the SCD-1, SCD-2, and CBERS-2 low Earth orbit satellites to accomplish the data collection services. The main system applications are hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, water quality, and others. One of the functionalities offered by this system is the geographic localization of the data collection platforms by using Doppler shifts and a batch estimator based on least-squares technique. There is a growing demand to improve the quality of the geographical location of data collection platforms for animal tracking. This work presents an evaluation of the ionospheric and tropospheric effects on the Brazilian Environmental Data Collection System transmitter geographic location. Some models of the ionosphere and troposphere are presented to simulate their impacts and to evaluate performance of the platform location algorithm. The results of the Doppler shift measurements, using the SCD-2 satellite and the data collection platform (DCP) located in Cuiabá town, are presented and discussed.

Geographic distribution and parturition of mabuya arajara Rebouças-Spieker, 1981 (Squamata, sauria, scincidae) from Ceará, northeastern Brazil

Mabuya arajara Rebouças-Spieker, 1981 has been considered an endemic species from the southern of state of Ceará, restricted to the Deciduous Dry Forests in the slopes of Plateau of Araripe (Chapada do Araripe). Here, we present an updated distributional map for the species and demonstrate that its range is not restricted as formerly believed. In addition, we had an opportunity to observe a gravid female and we describe aspects regarding parturition and number of offspring for the species.

Amphibia, Anura, Centrolenidae, Hyalinobatrachium carlesvilai Castroviejo-Fisher, Padial, Chaparro, Aguayo and de la Riva, 2009: First country record, Brazil

We present the first Brazilian record of the recently-described glassfrog Hyalinobatrachium carlesvilai Castroviejo-Fisher, Padial, Chaparro, Aguayo and de la Riva, 2009. This species, previously known in Peru and Bolivia, was collected at two localities at the municipality of Aripuanã, northern state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. © 2010 Check List and Authors.

Amphibia, Anura, Leptodactylidae, Leptodactylus furnarius Sazima and Bokermann, 1978: Geographic distribution extension in Brazil

The geographic distribution of Leptodactylus furnarius Sazima and Bokermann, 1978 comprises Argentina, Brazil (southern, southeastern, and west-central regions), Paraguay, and Uruguay. Herein, we report for the first time the occurrence of L. furnarius in northeastern and north regions of Brazil, at the states of Bahia and Tocantins, respectively. © 2010 Check List and Authors.

Zammara smaragdula walker, 1858 (hemiptera: Cicadidae): First record for Brazil

The present note reports the first record for Brazil of the cicada Zammara smaragdula Walker, 1858 (Hemiptera, Cicadidae, Zammarini). This new record brings the number of reported Cicadidae species for Brazil to 153, including three species in the genus Zammara. © 2011 Check List and Authors.

Microcomputer technology to extend the use of population data in developing countries: multidisciplinary databases, Geographic Information Systems and REDATAM

Includes bibliography

Endlicheria lhotzkyi (Nees) Mez (Magnoliophyta: Laurales: Lauraceae): First record for the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Endlicheria lhotzkyi is the first time recorded for the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, collected in the municipal district of Sonora, north of the state. Taxonomic comments and an identification key of Endlicheria species from Mato Grosso do Sul is presented. © 2012 Check List and Authors.

La distribución geográfica de la población de América Latina y prioridades regionales del desarrollo = Geographic distribution of the population of Latin America and regional development priorities

Incluye Bibliografía

First record of chilodonella hexasticha (ciliophora: Chilodonellidae) in brazilian cultured fish: A morphological and pathological assessment

Chilodonelids are small ciliated protozoans found worldwide and can be dangerous in culture conditions. This study presents morphometric data on the ciliate Chilodonella that is found in cultured Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), native bait fish tuvira (Gymnotus aff. inaequilabiatus) and native pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) and includes a histopathological assessment of the changes that occur in the pacu. For parasitic diagnosis, skin and gill samples were scraped onto slides, dried at room temperature, stained with Giemsa or impregnated with silver nitrate, and the measurements were obtained from photomicrographs. In the diseased pacu, the first gill arch was collected and fixed in a 10% buffered formalin solution for histopathological analysis. Parasite specimens from the different collection sites were identified morphologically as C. hexasticha Kiernik (1909). Diseased fish exhibited depigmentation, skin ulceration, scale loss, excessive mucus production and gill lesions. Histopathological analysis of pacu gills displayed epithelial proliferation with mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate, hemorrhages, and scattering necrosis. In Brazilian-farmed fish this is the first record of C. hexasticha, which has great pathogenic potential in cultured freshwater species. In addition, two new hosts are presented. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Socio-economic and geographic profiling of crime in Chile

Includes bibliography