Species Richness and Abundance of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) in Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico; Relationships with Phenological Changes in the Tropical Dry Forest.

Cerambycidae have an important ecological role in initiating the degradation process of dead wood, but few studies have evaluated Cerambycidae community attributes in relation to ecosystem phenology. We surveyed the cerambicid fauna of the tropical dry forest in Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico, and explored the relationship of Cerambycidae species richness and abundance with phenological changes in vegetation. We applied three collecting methods of light traps, direct collection, and Malaise traps to survey Cerambycidae throughout 2005. To determine seasonal variations, we collected samples in the dry season month of February in the rainy season of May-July and August-September, and in the transition months of October and November through. We collected and identified 145 species, 88 genera, 37 tribes, and four subfamilies. The subfamily with the highest number of species was Cerambycinae (100 species), and the tribe with the highest number of genera and species was Elaphidiini with 13 genera and 33 species. The ICE non-parametric estimator determined an overall expected richness of 373 species, while the overall Shannon Diversity Index was 4.1. Both species richness and abundance varied seasonally, with the highest values recorded in the rainy season and the lowest in the dry season. Overall species abundance was not significantly correlated to monthly rainfall or EVI neither, only for "direct collecting" the EVI vs Richness and EVI vs Shannon Diversity Index were significantly correlated. We propose that the seemingly contradictory relationships between seasonal richness patterns of Cerambycidae and the greening/senescence of vegetation (EVI) may be explained by the seasonal availability of dead organic matter, flowers, or leafy vegetation that may be synchronized with the behavior of different cerambycid species.

Extracochlear electrical stimulation.

Extracochlear electrical stimulation was carried out in 7 patients. We used square-wave signals. Electrode positions at the oval and round window showed the lowest current thresholds. The threshold of sound sensations elicited by electrical stimulation was higher in the high frequency than in the low frequency range. All 7 patients had hearing sensations for electrical stimulation with frequencies from 75 Hz to 1 000 Hz, 4 of them to 3 000 Hz. Varying the frequency of the electric signals gave variations of pitch sensation. A higher input amplitude gave variation in pitch sensation in some patients even if the electric frequency remained constant, at least for frequencies below 500 Hz. It seems possible to give prosodic information by transforming the speech from a microphone into electric pulses. This may be especially valuable information of the intelligibility of speech when combined with lip reading.