New records and human parasitism by Ornithodoros mimon (Acari: Argasidae) in Brazil

The bat tick Ornithodoros mimon Kohls, Clifford & Jones is currently known by only few reports in Bolivia, Uruguay, Argentina, and the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil. Here, we expand the distribution of O. mimon in Brazil to the states of Minas Gerais (southeastern region), Goiás (central-western), Pernambuco, and Rio Grande do Norte (northeastern). Ticks were collected on human dwellings, where there had been repeated complains of tick bites on persons during the night. Tick bites were generally followed by intense inflammatory reactions that lasted for several weeks at the bite site. Bats and opossums were reported to inhabit the attic of the infested houses. In addition, a free-ranging opossum (Didelphis albiventris Lund) trapped in Rio Grande do Norte was found infested by argasid larvae. Based on morphological and/or molecular analysis, all ticks were identified as O. mimon. From one of the sites (Tiradentes, state of Minas Gerais), 20 field-collected nymphs were tested by a battery of polymerase chain reaction protocols targeting tick-borne microorganisms of the genera Babesia, Hepatozoon, Rickettsia, Borrelia, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Coxiella; no tick specimen was found infected by any of these microorganism genera. The current study expands northwards the distribution of O. mimon, which has been shown to be very harmful to humans because of the intense inflammatory response that usually occurs after tick bites.

Geochronological evidence for pervasive miocene weathering, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Ar-40/Ar-39 laser incremental-heating analyses of 22 individual grains of supergene cryptomelane from three weathering profiles, up to 400 km apart, in the Rio Doce valley and Barbacena regions at Minas Gerais, Brazil, show that the formation of weathering profiles in these regions is contemporaneous, suggesting a strong weathering event in the Middle to Late Miocene (10-8 Ma). The preservation of these Miocene samples at or near the present surface suggests that either erosion rates have been very low in the region since the Miocene or that a much thicker weathering mantle was present in the region originally. Assuming a constant thickness of weathering profiles in the region throughout the Tertiary, we may calculate weathering front propagation rates of 4-8 m Myr(-1) during the past 10 Ma. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages of dikes emplaced in the onshore basement of the Santos Basin, Resende area, SE Brazil: implications for the South Atlantic opening and tertiary reactivation

New K-Ar and Ar-40/Ar-39 data of tholeiitic and alkaline dike swarms from the onshore basement of the Santos Basin (SE Brazil) reveal Mesozoic and Tertiary magmatic pulses. The tholeiitic rocks (basalt, dolerite, and microgabbro) display high TiO2 contents (average 3.65 wt%) and comprise two magmatic groups. The NW-oriented samples of Group A have (La/Yb)N ratios between 15 and 32.3 and range in age from 192.9 +/- 2.2 to 160.9 +/- 1.9 Ma. The NNW-NNE Group B samples, with (La/Yb)(N) ratios between 7 and 16, range from 148.3 +/- 3 to 133.9 +/- 0.5 Ma. The alkaline rocks (syenite, trachyte, phonolite, alkaline basalts, and lamprophyre) display intermediate-K contents and comprise dikes, plugs, and stocks. Ages of approximately 82 Ma were obtained for the lamprophyre dikes, 70 Ma for the syenite plutons, and 64-59 Ma for felsic dikes. Because Jurassic-Early Cretaceous basic dikes have not been reported in SE Brazil, we might speculate that, during the emplacement of Group A dikes, extensional stresses were active in the region before the opening of the south Atlantic Ocean and coeval with the Karoo magmatism described in South Africa. Group B dikes yield ages compatible with those obtained for Serra Geral and Ponta Grossa magmatism in the Parana Basin and are directly related to the breakup of western Gondwana. Alkaline magmatism is associated with several tectonic episodes that postdate the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and related to the upwelling of the Trindade plume and the generation of Tertiary basins southeast of Brazil. In the studied region, alkaline magmatism can be subdivided in two episodes: the first one represented by lamprophyre dykes of approximately 82 Ma and the second comprised of felsic alkaline stocks of approximately 70 Ma and associated dikes ranging from 64 to 59 Ma. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nitrate in groundwater in a recharge area of Guarany aquifer in Brazil.

The region of Ribeirão Preto City located in São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil, is an important sugarcane, soybean and corn producing area. This region is also an important recharge area (Espraiado) for groundwater of the Guarany aquifer, a water supply source for the city and region. It has an intercontinental extension that comprises areas of eight Brazilian states, as well as significant portions of other South American countries like Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, with a total area of approximately 1,200,000 Km2. Due to the high permeability of some soils present in this region, the high mobility of the herbicides and fertilizers applied, and being a recharge area, it is important to investigate the potential transport of applied fertilizers to underlying aquifer. The cultivation sugar cane in this area demands the frequent use of nitrogen as fertilizer. This research was conducted to characterize the potential contamination of groundwater with nitrogen in the recharge area of groundwater. Seven groundwater sample points were selected in the Espraiado stream watershed, during the years of 2005 and 2006. Samples were collected during the months of March, July, and December of each year. Three replications were collected at each site. Groundwater was also collected during the same months from county groundwater wells located throughout the city. The following six wells were studied: Central, Palmares, Portinari, Recreio Internacional, São Sebastião, and São José. Nitrate water samples were analyzed by Cadmium Reduction Method. No significant amount of nitrate was found in the recharge, agricultural, area. However, nitrate levels were detected at concentrations higher than the Maximum Concentration Level (MCL) of 10mg/L in downtown, urban, well located away from agricultural sites with no history of fertilizer or nitrogen application.

Reproductive seasonality in Saanen goats managed in southeast Brazil.

The aim of this study was to characterize the reproductive seasonality during the period of one year in Saanen goats managed in southeastern Brazil These results endorse hormonal methods (estrus synchronization and induction of synchronized estrus) or natural (male effect, flushing or light treatment) more appropriate according to the time of year in the region. Saanen goats, managed under tropical climate in southeastern Brazil, have a breeding season set from March until mid-August with the transitional phase to the anestrus in September. It is extends to mid-December at the new one transition phase for the reproductive season in March.

Carbon sequestration associated to the land-use and land-cover changes in the forestry sector in Southern Brazil.

We studied the Paraíba do Sul river watershed , São Paulo state (PSWSP), Southeastern Brazil, in order to assess the land use and cover (LULC) and their implication s to the amount of carbon (C) stored in the forest cover between the years 1985 and 2015. Th e region covers a n area of 1,395,975 ha . We used images made by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor (OLI/Landsat - 8) to produce mappings , and image segmentation techniques to produce vectors with homogeneous characteristics. The training samples and the samples used for classification and validation were collected from the segmented image. To quantify the C stocked in aboveground live biomass (AGLB) , we used an indirect method and applied literature - based reference values. The recovery of 205,690 ha of a secondary Native Forest (NF) after 1985 sequestered 9.7 Tg (Teragram) of C . Considering the whole NF area (455,232 ha), the amount of C accumulated al ong the whole watershed was 3 5 .5 Tg , and the whole Eucalyptus crop (EU) area (113,600 ha) sequester ed 4. 4 Tg of C. Thus, the total amount of C sequestered in the whole watershed (NF + EU) was 3 9 . 9 Tg of C or 1 45 . 6 Tg of CO 2 , and the NF areas were responsible for the large st C stock at the watershed (8 9 %). Therefore , the increase of the NF cover contribut es positively to the reduction of CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere, and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD + ) may become one of the most promising compensation mechanisms for the farmers who increased forest cover at their farms.

Neuromuscular Activity Of Bothrops Fonsecai Snake Venom In Vertebrate Preparations.

The neuromuscular activity of venom from Bothrops fonsecai, a lancehead endemic to southeastern Brazil, was investigated. Chick biventer cervicis (CBC) and mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm (PND) preparations were used for myographic recordings and mouse diaphragm muscle was used for membrane resting potential (RP) and miniature end-plate potential (MEPP) recordings. Creatine kinase release and muscle damage were also assessed. In CBC, venom (40, 80 and 160μg/ml) produced concentration- and time-dependent neuromuscular blockade (50% blockade in 85±9 min and 73±8 min with 80 and 160μg/ml, respectively) and attenuated the contractures to 110μM ACh (78-100% inhibition) and 40mM KCl (45-90% inhibition). The venom-induced decrease in twitch-tension in curarized, directly-stimulated preparations was similar to that in indirectly stimulated preparations. Venom (100 and 200μg/ml) also caused blockade in PND preparations (50% blockade in 94±13 min and 49±8 min with 100 and 200μg/ml, respectively) but did not alter the RP or MEPP amplitude. In CBC, venom caused creatine kinase release and myonecrosis. The venom-induced decrease in twitch-tension and in the contractures to ACh and K(+) were abolished by preincubating venom with commercial antivenom. These findings indicate that Bothrops fonsecai venom interferes with neuromuscular transmission essentially through postsynaptic muscle damage that affects responses to ACh and KCl. These actions are effectively prevented by commercial antivenom.

Flora arbustivo-arbórea do fragmento de floresta estacional semidecidual do Ribeirão Cachoeira, município de Campinas, SP

An inventory of the woody flora (trees and shrubs), was carried out in the Ribeirão Cachoeria forest (233.7ha, 650m high, 46°55'58''W, 22°50'13''S), the second largest and best conserved fragment of semideciduous tropical forest in the municipality of Campinas, São Paulo state, Southeastern Brazil. The soil is a red-yellow podsol and the climate is of Köppen's Cwag type. Collections were made from August/1996 to September/1997. Only fertile individuals with a perimeter at breast height of 9cm or greater were included in the survey. One hyndred and seventhy five species were identified, belonging to 119 genera and 49 families. The most important families were Myrtaceae (14 species), Rutaceae and Fabaceae (13), Caesalpiniaceae (11), Solanaceae (9), and Rubiaceae (8). Some species were found for the first time in the region: Tachigali multijuga Benth. and Schoepfia brasiliensis A.DC. The flowering peak for most species was from August to October. Maximum fruit production was from August to November. Most species are zoochoric (58%), but 23% were anemochoric and 19% autochoric. The floristic composition of this forest and another 20 forests from São Paulo state were compared. The results obtained indicate the existence of distinct groups of forests. The most homogeneus group contains forests from the municipality of Campinas with similarity of 40%. This suggests that these forests are possibly fragments of a original continuous forest in the Campinas region.

Notas sobre duas espécies de Thelypteris Schmidel (Thelypteridaceae - Pterophyta) do Brasil

During the taxonomic study of the Thelypteridaceae from southeastern Brazil was founded Thelypteris polypodioides (Raddi) C. F. Reed and Thelypteris villosa (Link) C. F. Reed, two rare and poorly known species. The taxonomic position of these species is uncertain. This study presents key, descriptions, illustrations, data on geographical distribution, and comments for both species, as well as comments on taxonomic affinity between the two species and Thelypteris subgenera.

Population dynamics: seasonal variation of phytoplankton functional groups in brazilian reservoirs (Billings and Guarapiranga, São Paulo)

Phytoplankton may function as a "sensor" of changes in aquatic environment and responds rapidly to such changes. In freshwaters, coexistence of species that have similar ecological requirements and show the same environmental requirements frequently occurs; such species groups are named functional groups. The use of phytoplankton functional groups to evaluate these changes has proven to be very useful and effective. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of functional groups of phytoplankton in two reservoirs (Billings and Guarapiranga) that supply water to millions of people in São Paulo city Metropolitan Area, southeastern Brazil. Surface water samples were collected monthly and physical, chemical and biological (quantitative and qualitative analyses of the phytoplankton) were performed. The highest biovolume (mm³.L-1) of the descriptor species and functional groups were represented respectively by Anabaena circinalis Rabenh. (H1), Microcystis aeruginosa (Kützing) Kützing (L M/M) and Mougeotia sp. (T) in the Guarapiranga reservoir and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Wolosz.) Seen. and Subba Raju (S N), Microcystis aeruginosa and M. panniformis Komárek et al. (L M/M), Planktothrix agardhii (Gom.) Anagn. and Komárek and P. cf. clathrata (Skuja) Anagn. and Komárek (S1) in the Billings reservoir. The environmental factors that most influenced the phytoplankton dynamics were water temperature, euphotic zone, turbidity, conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate and total phosphorous.

Variations in the sensitivity of different primers for detecting Wolbachia in Anastrepha (diptera: tephritidae)

Wolbachia are endosymbiont bacteria of the family Rickettsiacea that are widespread in invertebrates and occur between 20% and 60% of Neotropical insects. These bacteria are responsible for reproductive phenomena such as cytoplasmic incompatibility, male killing, feminization and parthenogenesis. Supergroups A and B of Wolbachia are common in insects and can be identified using primers for 16S rDNA, ftsZ and wsp; these primers vary in their ability to detect Wolbachia. The ftsZ primer was the first primer used to detect Wolbachia in Anastrepha fruit flies. The primers for 16S rDNA, ftsZ and wsp and the corresponding PCR conditions have been optimized to study the distribution of Wolbachia and their effect on the biology of Anastrepha in Brazil. In this work, we examined the ability of these primers to detect Wolbachia in Anastrepha populations from three regions in the State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. All of the samples were positive for Wolbachia supergroup A when screened with primers for 16S A rDNA and wsp A; the wsp B primer also gave a positive result, indicating cross-reactivity. The ftsZ primer showed a poor ability to detect Wolbachia in Anastrepha and generated false negatives in 44.9% of the samples. These findings indicate that reliable PCR detection of Wolbachia requires the use of primers for 16S rDNA and wsp to avoid cross-reactions and false negatives, and that the ftsZ primer needs to be redesigned to improve its selectivity.

Origem e dispersão dos Tupiguarani: o que diz a morfologia craniana?

A origem e a dispersão dos povos Tupiguarani têm sido intensamente debatidas entre arqueólogos e linguistas nas últimas cinco décadas. Em resumo, pode-se dizer que a ideia de que esses povos, que ocuparam grande parte do território brasileiro e parte da Bolívia, do Paraguai, do Uruguai e da Argentina, tiveram sua etnogênese na Amazônia e dali partiram para o leste e para o sul, por volta de 2.500 anos antes do presente, é bastante aceita entre os especialistas, embora uma dispersão no sentido oposto, isto é, do sul para o norte, com origem na bacia do Tietê-Paraná, não seja completamente descartada. Entre os arqueólogos que consideram a Amazônia como berço desses povos, alguns acreditam que esse surgimento se deu na Amazônia central. Outros acreditam que a etnogênese Tupiguarani ocorreu no sudoeste da Amazônia, onde hoje se concentra a maior diversidade linguística do tronco Tupi. Neste trabalho, a morfologia de 19 crânios associados à cerâmica Tupiguarani ou etnograficamente classificados como tais foram comparados a várias séries cranianas pré-históricas e etnográficas brasileiras por meio de estatísticas multivariadas. Duas técnicas multivariadas foram empregadas: Análise de Componentes Principais, aplicada sobre os centróides de cada série, e Distâncias de Mahalanobis, aplicadas aos dados individuais. Os resultados obtidos sugerem uma origem amazônica para os povos Tupiguarani, sobretudo pela forte associação encontrada entre crânios Tupi e Guarani do sudeste e do sul brasileiro e dos Tupi do norte do Brasil, com os espécimes provenientes da ilha de Marajó incluídos no estudo.

Systematic review and cladistic analysis of the Hernandariinae (Opiliones: Gonyleptidae)

The harvestmen subfamily Hernandariinae is reviewed and a new classification is proposed based on cladistic analysis using 67 morphological characters. The subfamily is composed of six genera and 23 species and occurs in south-southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina. Fourteen new combinations are proposed: Hernandaria armatifrons (Roewer, 1917); H. una (Mello-Leitão, 1927); Acrogonyleptes granulatus (H. Soares, 1966); A. pectinifemur (Soares & Soares, 1947); Acanthogonyleptes alticola (Mello-Leitão, 1922); A. editus (Roewer, 1943); A. fallax (Mello-Leitão, 1932); A. fulvigranulatus (Mello-Leitão, 1922); A. marmoratus (Mello-Leitão, 1940); A. pictus (Piza, 1942); A. singularis (Mello-Leitão, 1935); A. soaresi (Mello-Leitão, 1944); A. variolosus (Mello-Leitão, 1944). Seven synonymies are proposed: Proweyhia Mello-Leitão, 1927 and Metaxundarava Mello-Leitão, 1927 = Hernandaria Sørensen, 1884; Apembolephaenus calcaratus Soares & Soares, 1945 = H. armatifrons (Roewer, 1917); Sphaerobunus Rower, 1917 and Paraproweyhia Soares & Soares, 1947 = Acrogonyleptes Roewer, 1917; Paraproweyhia curitibae Soares & Soares, 1947 = Acrogonyleptes exochus (Mello-Leitão, 1931); and Melloleitaniana curitibae B. Soares, 1943 = Acrogonyleptes spinifrons Roewer, 1917. Three species are revalidated: Acrogonyleptes granulatus (H. Soares, 1966), A. pectinifemur (Soares & Soares, 1947), and A. spinifrons Roewer, 1917. Seven new species are described: Hernandaria sundermannorum sp. nov. (São Paulo State, Brazil), Hernandaria anitagaribaldiae sp. nov. (Santa Catarina State, Brazil), Hernandaria zumbii sp. nov. (Santa Catarina State, Brazil), Hernandaria chicomendesi sp. nov. (Santa Catarina State, Brazil), Acrogonyleptes cheguevarai sp. nov. (Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil), Pseudotrogulus pagu sp. nov. (São Paulo State, Brazil), Pseudotrogulus trotskyi sp. nov. (Paraná State, Brazil).

First record of Stygnidae for the state of Espírito Santo and description of a new Protimesius (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores)

Protimesius osvaldoi sp. nov. is described from the Reserva Biológica de Sooretama, state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil, being the first record of Stygnidae from this State and the southernmost record of the family in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (hitherto, the family was recorded down to Bahia only), extending in 210 km south of the previously known distribution. This is a large species, with armature of leg IV very reduced and penial morphology differing from the closest counterparts mainly in the ventral plate, which recedes deeply at the lateral borders and has the distal margin curved ventrally and by the presence of two small intermediate setae. Protimesius Roewer, 1913 consisted hitherto of 17 species, recorded from northern/northeastern Brazil and Amazonia of adjacent countries. A key is given for the 17 species of Protimesius for which males are known.

Ant community richness and composition across a gradient from Eucalyptus plantations to secondary Atlantic Forest

Secondary forests and exotic tree plantations are expanding across tropical landscapes. However, our current understanding of the value of these human-dominated forest landscapes for invertebrate biodiversity conservation is still very poor. In this paper, we use the leaf-litter ant fauna to assess invertebrate diversity in one commercially managed Eucalyptus plantation (four years old), two abandoned plantations of different regeneration ages (16 and 31 years), and one neighboring secondary Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil. There was a clear gradient in species richness from the secondary forest to the managed Eucalyptus plantation; richness and diversity peaked in secondary forest and in the older regenerating Eucalyptus plantation. Significantly more species were recorded in secondary forest samples than in Eucalyptus plantations, but Eucalyptus plantations had a similar level of richness. Furthermore, a non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed clear differences in species composition between the younger managed Eucalyptus plantation (understory absent) and habitats with sub-developed or developed understory. Eucalyptus plantations were characterized by an assemblage of widespread, generalist species very different from those known to occur in core forest habitats of southeastern Brazil. Our results indicate that while older regenerating Eucalyptus plantations can provide habitat to facilitate the persistence of generalist ant species, it is unlikely to conserve most of the primary forest species, such as specialized predators, Dacetini predators, and nomadic species.