ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Although the majority of threatened species are likely to be tropical insects, knowledge of the diversity, ecological role and impact of insect biodiversity loss on ecosystem processes is very limited. Specimens belonging to four families of Heteroptera: Pentatomidae, Coreidae, Alydidae and Rhopalidae, were collected from a protected area in the Paraná Forest, the largest ecoregion of the Atlantic Forest, in Argentina. The assemblages were characterized and the biodiversity estimated, and they were compared with the assemblages found in five other protected areas in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. In our study area, Pentatomidae had the greatest richness and diversity; Coreidae was the second most diverse family, with highest sampling deficit, highest percentage of singletons, and lowest inventory completeness; and Rhopalidae was the best sampled family with asymptotic rarefaction curves. We explored the application of the Species Conservation Importance index, following four criteria, to evaluate the relative importance of the pentatomid species studied and its usefulness for assigning conservation values to areas. We found similar Site Conservation Values among the six areas and noted that the use of criteria was limited by the lack of information, being crucial to increase the knowledge of most of the species.
Subject(s)
Animals , Forests , Conservation of Natural Resources , Heteroptera/physiology , Biodiversity , Argentina , Reference Values , Species Specificity , Brazil , Population Dynamics/statistics & numerical data , Population Density , Endangered Species , Animal DistributionABSTRACT
ABSTRACTIn this contribution, we present new distributional records from Argentina of 63 pentatomid species; three genera (Caonabo, Cromata and Taurocerus) and 14 species (Marmessulus brasiliensis, Podisus crassimargo, Cromata ornata, Acledra haematopa, Caonabo pseudocylax, Dichelops avilapiresi, Euschistus cribarius, E. paranticus, Mormidea maculata, Rio indistinctus, Banasa lanceolata, B. nigrifrons, Pallantia macunaima, and Taurocerus edessoides) are reported for the first time from Argentina; also we provided 81 new province records of another 49 species.
ABSTRACT
The Berytidae or stilt bugs are a cosmopolitan family of lygaeoid bugs, which are slender, elongate insects, with generally cylindrical bodies and very long, slender antennae and legs. Members of the tribe Hoplinini are characterized by the lack of a distinct metapleural scent channel and the possession of a dorsally directed process on the caudal edge of the male genitalia capsule (absent in Xenoloma and Cuscohoplininus). In this paper, we described the new genus and species Cuscohoplininus pagoreni from Peru. Scanning electron micrographs are provided to illustrate taxonomically important structures. Among the eight genera known in the tribe Hoplinini, the new genus Cuscohoplininus resembles Parajalysus in general aspect and size, but can be easily distinguished by the following characters: Parajalysus is characterized by the four large, erect pronotal spines, one centered on the anterior lobe, and on the posterior lobe, one at each humeral angle and one at the base of the meson; whereas, Cuscohoplininus has a single spine on the anterior pronotal lobe, an elongate scutellar spine (a tubercle is present in Parajalysus), and lacks a process on the caudal edge of the male genitalia capsule. Rev. Biol. Trop. 55 (2): 673-676. Epub 2007 June, 29.
La familia Berytidae es cosmopolita y está integrada por chinches alargadas, con cuerpo generalmente cilíndrico y con antenas y patas muy largas. Los miembros de la tribu Hoplinini se caracterizan por carecer de canal la glándula repugnatoria y por poseer un proceso caudal dirigido dorsalmente sobre el borde posterior de la cápsula genital masculina (ausente en Xenoloma y Cuscohoplininus). Describimos un nuevo género y especie: Cuscohoplininus pagoreni de Perú. Se tomaron fotografías de microscopia electrónica para ilustrar estructuras de importancia taxonómica. Entre los ocho géneros conocidos de la tribu Hoplinini, Cuscohoplininus n. gen. es similar al género Parajalysus en aspecto general y en tamaño. Sin embargo, puede distinguirse así: Parajalysus se caracteriza por poseer cuatro grandes espinas erectas sobre el pronoto, una en el centro del lóbulo anterior, una en cada ángulo humeral y, la cuarta, también sobre el lóbulo posterior sobre el margen posterior; por otro lado Cuscohoplininus tiene una sola espina sobre el pronoto situada sobre el lóbulo anterior, una espina escutelar (Parajalysus presenta solo un tubérculo sobre el escutelo) y carece de proceso caudal.