Contribuição ao conhecimento da sistemática e biologia de buprestídeos minadores do gênero Pachyschelus Solier, 1833: (Coleoptera, Buprestidae)

Buprestid leaf-miners are generally included in the subtribe Trachytes. The genera belonging to this subtribe are commonly very rich in number of species and their systematics envolves huge difficulties. On the other hand the biological knowledge on those insects is very poor. The A. tries to clarify the systematical status of two species of Pachyschelus - P. subundulatus Kerr. and P. fulgidipennis Lucas, and redescribes also P. binderi Obenberger. The hosts of the first two species are recorded, namely: Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae) - host-plant of P. subundulatus and Luhea spp. (Tiliaceae) - host-plant of P. fulgidipennis. The mines, developmental stages and habits of the three species are described and is made a full redescription of the adults, both male and female. The study is based on reared material from mined leaves, as well as insects assembled in several brazilian collections, both private and public ones. The importance of some biological facts as well as some morphological characters are stressed. The knowledge of the host-plants and the shape and other structural features of the mine were found to be helpfull to the identification of the species. Some morphological features of adults also prooved to be of systematical value. Besides the female pygidium and the male genitalia, the tibiae of the third pair of legs show some intersting structural details, reasonably alike in both sexes and quite different in each species.

Estudos taxionômicos e biológicos sôbre buprestídeos minadores do gênero Pachyschelus solier, 1833, com a descrição de uma espécie nova (Insecta, Coleoptera)

This paper deals with two Brazilian species of the genus Pachyschelus Sol., namely: P. urvillege sp. n. and P. mimus Obenberger, 1925. P. urvillege sp. n. is described based on specimens reared from leafmined Urvillea glabra Cam. (Sapindaceae); it seems to be related to P. vanrooni Obenb., 1923, from which it can be distinguished by the absence of sexual dichroism, structural details of female pygidium and, as supposed, by the male genitalia (still unknown in P. vanrooni). P. mimus Obenberger, 1925, was reared from Psidium araça Raddi (Myrtaceae), and the male allotype is described. Oviposition, larval cephalic capsules and mines of both species are described, as well as other developmental stages of P. urvilleae. Some larvae of the latter were found parasitized by Tetrastichus sp.

Notas sôbre o gênero Colobogaster Solier, 1833, com a descrição de duas novas espécies da Região Amazônica: (Coleoptera, Buprestidae)

The study of materials belonging to several brazilian collections led us discover 2 new species of the genus Colobogaster which are here described. C. seabrai sp. n. seems to be related to C. puncticollis Waterhouse, 1882, from which it can be distinguished by: a) apical alitral tooth placed suturally, b) pronotum with 3 pairs of depressions, the 1st. pair transversal and conigous to the 2nd one, c) elitral suture brilliantgreen coloured but not the marginal edge, d) front without a horse-shoe shaped structure, e) pronotum with the discal region concolor. The structures of pronotum, the elitral and pronotal colour paterns and the genial morphology separate this one from other species of the genus. C. paraensis sp. n. is closely related to C. cupricollis Kerremans, 1897, but it is distinguished by the absence of depressions on the pronotum, by the elitral tooth placed suturally, by the abscence of humeral rip and by the general colour. Eleven other species were studied and their apical segment of the abdomen and scutellum were illustrated. It was also established the synonymy of C. ecuadoricus Obengerger, 1926.

Contribuição ao estudo de Histoplasma capsulatum (Darling, 1906)

Usando o meio de amônio-sulfato-glicose, conseguimos que oito amostras estéreis de Histoplasma capsulatum voltassem a produzir estalagmosporos.

Sobre uma nova espécie do gênero Acanthocolpus Lühe, 1906

Os autores, na presente nota, propõem Acanthocolpus brasiliensis sp. n. sendo este gênero pela primeira vez referido no Brasil. A espécie aqui descrita difere das demais do gênero pela ausência de espinhos na vagina e no ducto hermafrodita e pela presença de vitelinos em quase toda extensão da metade posterior do corpo.

Stomach content analyses of Simulium perflavum Roubaud 1906 (Diptera: Simuliidae) larvae from streams in Central Amazônia, Brazil

Stomach contents of Simulium perflavum Roubaud larvae were analyzed and compared with plankton and periphyton collected in five streams, in Central Amazonia (Manaus and Presidente Figueiredo counties), in Sep./Oct.1996 (dry season) and Feb./Mar. 1997 (rainy season). A total of 1,400 last-instar larvae were dissected; the stomach contents were analyzed using different methods: fresh and after oxidation. A total of 87 taxa (algae, diatoms and rotifers) were found in the stomach contents. In each stream, qualitative samples of plankton and periphyton were collected; these were mounted between slides and cover slips. A total of 94 taxa of plankton and 54 taxa of periphyton were collected. One species of Rotifera was present in the stomach contents, plankton and periphyton. Cluster analysis based on species composition of the organisms present in the stomach contents grouped the streams into two major groups, each belonging to a different drainage area. Correlations based on presence/absence of species of microalgae in the stomach contents, plankton and periphyton indicated significant associations (p<0.05) between stomach contents and plankton and between plankton and periphyton (z test); the Sorensen coefficient and cluster analysis corroborate the same associations.