Plant Leaf Identification Using Gabor Wavelets

This article presents a novel method of plant classification using Gabor wavelet filters to extract texture filters in a foliar surface. The aim of this promising method is to add to the results obtained by other leaf attributes (such as shape, contour, color, among others), increasing, therefore, the percentage of classification of plant species. To corroborate the efficiency of the technique, an experiment using 20 species from Brazilian flora was done and discussed. The results are also compared with texture Fourier descriptors and cooccurrence matrices. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 19, 236-243, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ima.20201

Fractal dimension applied to plant identification

This article discusses methods to identify plants by analysing leaf complexity based on estimating their fractal dimension. Leaves were analyzed according to the complexity of their internal and external shapes. A computational program was developed to process, analyze and extract the features of leaf images, thereby allowing for automatic plant identification. Results are presented from two experiments, the first to identify plant species from the Brazilian Atlantic forest and Brazilian Cerrado scrublands, using fifty leaf samples from ten different species, and the second to identify four different species from genus Passiflora, using twenty leaf samples for each class. A comparison is made of two methods to estimate fractal dimension (box-counting and multiscale Minkowski). The results are discussed to determine the best approach to analyze shape complexity based on the performance of the technique, when estimating fractal dimension and identifying plants. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Taxonomic redescription and biological notes on Diaugia angusta (Diptera,Tachinidae): parasitoid of the palm boring weevils Metamasius ensirostris and M. hemipterus (Coleoptera, Dryophthoridae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Quality of Cotesia flavipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) reared at different host densities and the estimated cost of its commercial production

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Description of new cicada species associated with the coffee plant and an identification key for the species of Fidicinoides (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from Brazil

The genus Fidicinoides Boulard & Martinelli is characterized by its partially exposed timbal, not totally covered by the meta-scutellar plate as occurs in Fidicina Amyot & Serville, and has an extensive geographic distribution in Central and South America. In this work a new species for the genus is described. Fidicinoides sarutaiensis Santos, Martinelli & Maccagnan sp. n. is a medium-sized cicada, with the collected and studied specimens associated with coffee (Coffee arabica L.), in the municipality of Sarutaia, in the southeast region of São Paulo state. The species F. glauca (Goding, 1925) and F. viridifemur (Walker, 1850) are transferred to Dorisiana. An identification key for the Fidicinoides species of Brazil is also proposed.

Host quality of different aphid species for rearing Diaeretiella rapae (McIntosh) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Evaluation of four molecular typing Methodologies as tools for determining taxonomy relations and for identifying. species among Yersinia isolates

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Capacidade reprodutiva de fêmeas de Apanteles galleriae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) em lagartas de Galleria mellonella e Achroia grisella (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) criadas com dietas diferentes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A phytophagous braconid, Allorhogas conostegia sp nov (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), in the fruits of Conostegia xalapensis (Bonpl.) D. Don (Melastomataceae)

Before 1989 all braconid wasps were thought to be parasitoids, but in that year the first phytophagous species was reported. Subsequently, a few other examples of phytophagy have been discovered, most of which are species of Allorhogas in the subfamily Doryctinae. Until now, all demonstrated examples of phytophagy in this genus have been as gall inducers in the fruits of Fabaceae. Here we describe a new species from Costa Rica, Allorhogas conostegia Marsh and Shaw, and provide evidence that it forms galls in the fruits of Conostegia xalapensis (Melastomataceae). We also provide information on the phenology of the plant and of the galls and the effects of the galls on the host plant, and we discuss the potential species richness of Allorhogas in the Neotropics.

Leaf Structure and Taxonomy of Petunia and Calibrachoa (Solanaceae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Taxonomy of Ophiuroidea (Echinonermata) from the continental shelf and slope of the southern and southeastern Brazilian coast

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A new phytophagous Bracon Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) associated with Protium ovatum Engl. (Burseraceae) fruits from Brazilian savannah

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Use of Rubidium to Label Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a Parasitoid of Greenbugs (Homoptera: Aphididae), for Dispersal Studies

A reliable method of labeling is needed to study dispersal of the braconid parasitoid, Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson), an important biological control of greenbugs, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), on grain sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. The feasibility of using aqueous solutions of rubidium chloride (RbCl) applied as a foliar spray or soil drench to label greenbugs and L. testaceipes developing within greenbugs was studied. Laboratory and field studies were conducted to identify the minimal concentration of RbCl to assure labeling of greenbugs and wasps, persistence of Rb throughout the wasp's life span, mobility of Rb to unsprayed sorghum leaves, and feasibility of studying dispersal using a release-recapture technique with Rb-labeled wasps. Both greenbugs and wasps could be labeled using RbCl at concentrations of 2,500-10,000 ppm. Rubidium content in labeled wasps did not significantly vary during the first 7 d after emergence. Greenbugs feeding on unsprayed leaves were labeled up to 4 wk after leaves were sprayed. Rb-labeled wasps were found at the maximum trap distance from the release site (60 m) within 1 d after release.

Parasitism of Greenbugs (Homoptera: Aphididae) by Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in Grain Sorghum: Implications for Augmentative Biological Control

Field cage studies were conducted to describe the relationship between the percentage of Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson) parasitism (as measured by aphid mummies) and densities of greenbug, Schizaphis graminum Rondani, on grain sorghum, Sorghum bicolor L. In 1993 and 1994, a biotype E-susceptible grain sorghum hybrid was grown in field cages and L. testaceipes adults were released after each plant was infested with 20 biotype E greenbugs. The release rates were 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 wasps per plant in 1993, and 0, 0.16, 0.33, and 0.5 wasps per plant in 1994. Greenbugs and mummies were counted 1-2 times a week on all leaves of 2-4 randomly selected plants per cage. A release rate of 0.33-0.5 wasps per plant infested with 20 greenbugs maximized the number of mummies produced and prevented the greenbugs from reaching an economic threshold of 1,000 greenbugs per plant. Peak numbers of mummies occurred ≈400-500 DD (10°C base) after the initial wasp release. Regression analyses showed that the greenbug population started decreasing when the percentage of parasitism (as measured by mummies) reached 20-30 %. Greenbugs in the absence of wasps significantly reduced yield in 1994, but not in 1993.

Bionomics and identification of Acromyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) through an illustrated key

This study is based on sampled data obtained in 60 equally distant municipalities of São Paulo State. In this study, we proposed a tool to identify Acromyrmex species in a practical and agile manner through the use of an illustrated key that demonstrates the morphological attributes of workers, associated with the type of cut plant material, external and internal appearance of nests and nidification sites. Through sampling, eleven species and six subspecies of Acromyrmex occurring in the State were identified, including the first registers of A. diasi and A. subterraneus molestans.