The more, the merrier: a new colonial species of the orb weaving spider genus Leucauge White, 1841 (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) from the Amazon rainforest

A new Leucauge species, widespread in the Amazon rainforest, is described and illustrated. Leucauge behemoth n. sp. lives in colonies, usually positioned above turbulent waters. Both males and females have a unique color pattern, especially on the abdomen, which makes this species easily identifiable. Males are distinguished from most congeners by the long hook of the cymbium and from their closest relatives by the lack of a cymbial dorsobasal process. Females of this species differ from their congeners by the presence of a rounded ventral process in the epigynum. Leucauge argyroaffins Soares & Camargo, 1948 is proposed as a junior synonym of Leucauge argyra (Walckenaer, 1841).

Three new species of Fufius Simon, 1888 (Araneae, Cyrtaucheniidae) from Brazil with the redescription of Fufius funebris Vellard, 1924 and description of the female of Fufius lucasae Guadanucci & Indicatti, 2004.

The mygalomorph neotropical genus Fufius Simon, 1888 comprises ten species, distributed from Guatemala in Central America to southeastern Brazil, in South America. Most of the species were described from northern South America, in the Amazonian region. Only F. funebris Vellard, 1924 and F. lucasae Guadanucci & Indicatti, 2004 are known from regions more to the south of the continent. Herein we describe three new Brazilian species, Fufius minusculus sp. n. and F. jalapensis sp. n. from the state of Tocantins, and F. candango sp. n. from Distrito Federal. The female of F. lucasae is described for first time and the male and female of F. funebris are redescribed based on specimens collected at the type locality.

Redescription of Avicularia taunayi and notes on its habitat and geographical distribution (Araneae Theraphosidae Aviculariinae)

We redescribe the poorly known tarantula species Avicularia taunayi (Mello-Leitão, 1920) and present information on its geographical distribution and habits. The spermatheca of the female is unusual for the genus: short, broad, with a median slight curvature and lobes on its basal, median and distal portions. The male resembles other Avicularia species but can be distinguished by the presence of a tibial apophysis on leg I in conjunction with legs I and IV having roughly the same length and the presence of pale rings on the distal femora, tibiae and metatarsi. Additionally, males and females have three pairs of light brown spots extending from the dorsum to the lateral region of the abdomen. Avicularia taunayi is found in the Brazilian Cerrado, a savannah-like biome. It is one of the aviculariine species with the southernmost distribution, reaching as far South as the Tropic of Capricorn.

A condiçäo de autarquia especial das agências reguladores e das agências executivas e as expectativas sobre a qualidade da sua gestäo / The regulatory agencies' and executive agencies' condition as special autarchies and the expectations in relation to the quality of their management

Traz o debate a seguinte questäo: as agências reguladoras (ARs) possuem a necessária independência e a autonomia para o pleno exercício das suas atividades? Uma tentativa de resposta surge a partir da análise e da discussäo dos elementos da arquitetura (a natureza jurídica, a designaçäo e a atuaçäo do corpo dirigente, a questäo orçamentária e os contratos de gestäo) que os autores acreditam configurem a condiçäo de "autarquia sob regime especial", que identifica as agências as reguladoras com atuaçäo no âmbito nacional. O estudo demonstra que säo múltiplos os desenhos abrigados sob a denominaçäo genérica de "autarquia sob regime especial", impedindo, assim, qualquer tentativa de inferência generalizada quanto à eficiência, à eficácia e à efetividade das ARs, seja quanto à qualidade da gestäo interna, seja no que se refere à atuaçäo externa dessas entidades.