Anatomical description of the aortic arch of a rare species "the giant armadillo" (Priodontes maximus; Kerr, 1792).

The giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) is found in diverse habitats from South America. A female adult giant armadillo with a body mass of 45 kg was used. The animal was a victim of trampling on highway AC-40, at 70 km, near the municipality of Capixaba-Acre and the corpse donated to the Animal Anatomy Laboratory at Federal University of Acre (UFAC). The arterial system was filled with natural latex via the thoracic aorta in a direction opposite the blood flow to facilitate the description of the aortic arch and its side branches. The study was approved by CEUA/UFAC - no. 053/2015 and SISBIO no. 47124-1. The aortic arch issued side groups, which had the following sequence: brachycephalic trunk, left carotid artery, left subclavian artery. The brachycephalic trunk forked forming the right subclavian artery and the right common carotid artery. The arrangement allowed the whole carotid blood supply to the brain and surrounding structures present in the animal's head. The subclavian arteries, of homologous way, originated the arteries: vertebral, thoracic, and cervical costocervical trunk. The aortic arch armadillo showed the same pattern as that described for the Euphractus sexcinctus and different from those reported for the Dasypus novemcinctus and Tamandua tetradactyla. In addition, the function assigned to each branch was the same regardless of the species with which it was compared.

Susceptibility to chemical insecticides of two Brazilian populations of the visceral leishmaniasis vector Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae).

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the insecticide susceptibility of two geographically separated Lutzomyia longipalpis populations (Lapinha and Montes Claros) with different histories of insecticide exposure (i.e. no exposure and repeated exposure, respectively). METHODS: (i) Bioassay monitoring of sand fly survival over time when exposed to a range of insecticides; and (ii) analysis of the level of insecticide detoxification enzymes in individual sand flies caught at both study sites. Insecticides tested were the organophosphates malathion and fenitrothion and the pyrethroids lambda-cyhalothrin, permethrin and deltamethrin. RESULTS: Survival analyses showed that whilst there was no overall significant difference in susceptibility of both populations to organophosphates, Lapinha sand flies were significantly more susceptible to pyrethroids than those from Montes Claros. Multiple regression analyses also showed that insecticide susceptibility in both locations varied with sand fly sex. The relative susceptibilities of the two sand fly populations to tested insecticides were also compared. Thus, Montes Claros sand flies were most susceptible to malathion, followed by fenitrothion, deltamethrin and permethrin. Those from Lapinha were most susceptible to lambda-cyhalothrin, followed by malathion, permethrin, deltamethrin and fenitrothion. Biochemical analyses demonstrated that Montes Claros sand flies had significantly lower insecticide detoxification enzyme activity than Lapinha sand flies. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are the first record of significantly reduced susceptibility to the insecticides used in control of wild populations of Lu. longipalpis. They demonstrate the importance of evaluating chemicals against this species by conventional bioassay and microplate assays before and during spraying programmes.