New Genera and Species Records of Nicaraguan Eumolpinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Including a New Species in a New Generic Record for Central America.

In this work, we have examined a large sample of Eumolpinae leaf beetles from Nicaragua and found 18 species reported for the first time in this country, including the new species Caryonoda funebris n. sp., which also represents a new genus record for Central America, and two genera of Typophorini not reported from Nicaragua so far: Paria LeConte, 1858 and Tijucana Bechyné, 1957. Apart from the description of the new species and taxonomic commentaries on each of the new country records, we also illustrate these species along with drawings of male genitalia and spermathecae when available to assist the interpretation of our taxonomic decisions in the future. We take the opportunity in this work to formalize the combination of Chrysodina cupriceps Lefèvre, 1877 as Chrysodinopsis cupriceps (Lefèvre) n. comb.

Redescription of Armillipora Quate (Diptera: Psychodidae: Psychodinae) with a new species from Bolivia.

The former monotypic genus Armillipora Quate, known only from Costa Rica and Panama, is redescribed, including the type species A. selvica Quate, this time collected on the Caribbean side of Nicaragua, RAAN department, and illustrated based on male morphological characters. The male of a new species, A. suapiensis sp. nov., from Bolivia, La Paz department, is described here and also figured.

Synopsis of the Castniidae (Lepidoptera) from Honduras and Nicaragua, Central America.

We present a catalog of nine taxa of Castniidae reported for Nicaragua and Honduras including Prometheus zagraea salvina, a first record for Nicaragua. We also include general and field observations of behavior to help explain why members of this family are poorly represented in collections.

Two new species of Bruchomyiinae (Diptera, Psychodidae) from the Neotropical Region.

Males of two Bruchomyiinae species were collected during fieldwork in Central and South America. Boreofairchildia belti Jezek, Obona Le Pont sp. nov. and Notofairchildia motacuensis Jezek, Obona Le Pont sp. nov. are described from a rain forerst site in Nicaragua and a rocky ridge site in Bolivia, respectively. Differential diagnoses are included, and important diagnostic characters illustrated.

Critical Uncertainties and Gaps in the Environmental- and Social-Impact Assessment of the Proposed Interoceanic Canal through Nicaragua.

The proposed interoceanic canal will connect the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean, traversing Lake Nicaragua, the major freshwater reservoir in Central America. If completed, the canal would be the largest infrastructure-related excavation project on Earth. In November 2015, the Nicaraguan government approved an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the canal. A group of international experts participated in a workshop organized by the Academy of Sciences of Nicaragua to review this ESIA. The group concluded that the ESIA does not meet international standards; essential information is lacking regarding the potential impacts on the lake, freshwater and marine environments, and biodiversity. The ESIA presents an inadequate assessment of natural hazards and socioeconomic disruptions. The panel recommends that work on the canal project be suspended until an appropriate ESIA is completed. The project should be resumed only if it is demonstrated to be economically feasible, environmentally acceptable, and socially beneficial.

New records of Anacroneuria Klapálek, 1909 (Plecoptera: Perlidae) for Central America.

The perlid genus Anacroneuria is the most widely distributed stonefly occurring in the Neotropics. Regional studies of this genus were made early in the last century, whereas local taxonomic and distributional studies have recently increased. In this study, we provide new Central American records for four species of Anacroneuria. Anacroneuria choco Stark & Bersosa 2006, A. costana (Navás 1924), A. hacha Stark 1998, and A. laru Gutiérrez-Fonseca 2015 are newly reported including new range extensions.

Scientists raise alarms about fast tracking of transoceanic canal through Nicaragua.

Seeking economic growth and job creation to tackle the nation's extreme poverty, the Nicaraguan government awarded a concession to build an interoceanic canal and associated projects to a recently formed Hong Kong based company with no track record or related expertise. This concession was awarded without a bidding process and in advance of any feasibility, socio-economic or environmental impact assessments; construction has begun without this information. The 278 km long interoceanic canal project may result in significant environmental and social impairments. Of particular concern are damage to Lake Cocibolca, a unique freshwater tropical lake and Central America's main freshwater reservoir; damage to regional biodiversity and ecosystems; and socio-economic impacts. Concerned about the possibly irreparable damage to the environment and to native communities, conservationists and the scientific community at large are urging the Nicaraguan government to devise and reveal an action plan to address and mitigate the possible negative repercussions of this interoceanic canal and associated projects. Critical research needs for preparation of a comprehensive benefit-cost analysis for this megaproject are presented.

Automated DNA-based plant identification for large-scale biodiversity assessment.

Rapid degradation of tropical forests urges to improve our efficiency in large-scale biodiversity assessment. DNA barcoding can assist greatly in this task, but commonly used phenetic approaches for DNA-based identifications rely on the existence of comprehensive reference databases, which are infeasible for hyperdiverse tropical ecosystems. Alternatively, phylogenetic methods are more robust to sparse taxon sampling but time-consuming, while multiple alignment of species-diagnostic, typically length-variable, markers can be problematic across divergent taxa. We advocate the combination of phylogenetic and phenetic methods for taxonomic assignment of DNA-barcode sequences against incomplete reference databases such as GenBank, and we developed a pipeline to implement this approach on large-scale plant diversity projects. The pipeline workflow includes several steps: database construction and curation, query sequence clustering, sequence retrieval, distance calculation, multiple alignment and phylogenetic inference. We describe the strategies used to establish these steps and the optimization of parameters to fit the selected psbA-trnH marker. We tested the pipeline using infertile plant samples and herbivore diet sequences from the highly threatened Nicaraguan seasonally dry forest and exploiting a valuable purpose-built resource: a partial local reference database of plant psbA-trnH. The selected methodology proved efficient and reliable for high-throughput taxonomic assignment, and our results corroborate the advantage of applying 'strict' tree-based criteria to avoid false positives. The pipeline tools are distributed as the scripts suite 'BAGpipe' (pipeline for Biodiversity Assessment using GenBank data), which can be readily adjusted to the purposes of other projects and applied to sequence-based identification for any marker or taxon.

Patterns of animal diversity in different forms of tree cover in agricultural landscapes.

As tropical regions are converted to agriculture, conservation of biodiversity will depend not only on the maintenance of protected forest areas, but also on the scope for conservation within the agricultural matrix in which they are embedded. Tree cover typically retained in agricultural landscapes in the neotropics may provide resources and habitats for animals, but little is known about the extent to which it contributes to conservation of animal species. Here, we explore the animal diversity associated with different forms of tree cover for birds, bats, butterflies, and dung beetles in a pastoral landscape in Nicaragua. We measured species richness and abundance of these four animal taxa in riparian and secondary forest, forest fallows, live fences, and pastures with high and low tree cover. We recorded over 20,000 individuals of 189 species including 14 endangered bird species. Mean abundance and species richness of birds and bats, but not dung beetles or butterflies, were significantly different among forms of tree cover. Species richness of bats and birds was positively correlated with tree species richness. While the greatest numbers of bird species were associated with riparian and secondary forest, forest fallows, and pastures with >15% tree cover, the greatest numbers of bat species were found in live fences and riparian forest. Species assemblages of all animal taxa were different among tree cover types, so that maintaining a diversity of forms of tree cover led to conservation of more animal species in the landscape as a whole. Overall, the findings indicate that retaining tree cover within agricultural landscapes can help conserve animal diversity, but that conservation efforts need to target forms of tree cover that conserve the taxa that are of interest locally. Preventing the degradation of remaining forest fragments is a priority, but encouraging farmers to maintain tree cover in pastures and along boundaries may also make an important contribution to animal conservation.

The ants of North and Central America: the genus Mycocepurus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

We provide a review of the North American ants (north of Colombia) of the ant genus Mycocepurus, including keys to the workers and females, illustrations and distribution maps. The distribution of M. tardus is extended to Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The female of M. curvispinosus is described.