A review of the species groups of the Neotropical myrmecophilous genus Homopterus Westwood is presented based on the first molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus and morphological study of 260 specimens. Two new species groups, the H. subcordatus group and the H. filiko group are erected based on the results of the molecular phylogenetic analysis and morphological analysis. The genus consists of one species known only from Dominican amber, H. hispanolienses Nagel, and thirteen extant species, one of which is described as new: Homopterus filiko n.sp. from Peru. An illustrated dichotomous identification key to species, diagnoses of the species groups and updated distribution maps are provided. The potential of several of the species groups to harbor additional cryptic diversity is discussed.

Factors associated with feeding injury to grass plants by two species of adult billbugs, Sphenophorus gentilis and S. parvulus, were evaluated. Early season tests utilized adult bluegrass billbugs while later studies involved wildrye billbugs. Types of feeding injury were determined and preferred feeding locations on host plants were identified for each billbug species. Greenhouse and field studies compared different species of grasses, individual plants within a species, and plants from different locations, for billbug susceptibility. The effect of grass plant age and stem size were also tested using bluegrass billbugs. Using analysis of variance and multiple comparison tests, significant differences in amounts of feeding injury were determined among entries. Wildrye plants from different geographic locations showed large differences in susceptibility to wildrye billbug feeding when compared in a greenhouse study. Grass stem size had an effect on amounts of feeding injury incurred to 2 out of 3 wheatgrasses by bluegrass billbugs. A field study suggested that host plant age was not a factor in susceptibility of slender wheatgrass to bluegrass bfllbugs. Implications for screening grasses for resistance to billbugs using adult insects are discussed. Comparisons between greenhouse and field studies are also examined.

As a consequence to climate change and resulting severe weather events such as prolonged hot and dry periods, wildfire frequency increases globally. Progressively, these effects are noticeable in high latitude countries such as Sweden where a megafire burned 13 100 ha of managed coniferous forest in 2014. While the effect of fire on species communities has been much studied, species surveys often only collect data opportunistically after a wildfire, making inferences about the fire effect uncertain. In this study my aim was to examine the response of peatland dwelling beetles (Coleoptera) to fire by comparing beetle communities of burned drained Swedish peatlands and adjacent non-burned (reference) areas. The first beetle survey took place in 2009, the second was carried out in 2020, 6 years after the fire occurred. Both surveys used pitfall traps in a burned and un-burned area, which were divided into two types of mires, fen and bog, respectively. As a result of the post-fire recovery, dead wood accumulated in the burned area and shrubs and young trees replaced the original vegetation. The reference area did not show significant changes in vegetation. Over all 188 species were found in 2009 and 256 in 2020. In 2009 most species were found in the pre-fire area while in 2020 most species were found in the reference area. Further, two red-listed species (conservation category NT) were found in the fire area as well as two new species for Västmanland country. As expected, the fire had a large impact on the beetle community, where once dominant species declines and got replaced by more dispersive or more moisture striving species. In contrast to my expectations, not only the fire area showed notable changes in the beetle community regarding diversity and composition, also the reference area showed changes in species dominance and a high species turnover. Although the before-after-control-impact study design illustrates the independence of the fire impact to the changes in species composition over time, the results suggest that the time between the surveys (10 years) was the main factor for the community change.

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Com o objetivo de analisar a fauna de himenópteros parasitoides (Hymenoptera:Chalcididae) e de coleobrocas (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) associados à cultura de T. grandis, foram utilizadas 5 armadilhas de Malaise instaladas no interior da floresta plantada. As coletas foram realizadas, semanalmente, de outubro de 2009 a setembro de 2010, em área de reflorestamento situado no município de Cáceres, MT. Foram analisados os índices faunísticos de frequência, constância, abundância e dominância e também diversidade de espécies. Foram coletados 414 parasitoides; pertencentes às famílias Chalcididae e distribuídos em 3 gêneros e 16 espécies e 715 espécies de coleobrocas, pertencentes à família Cerambycidae e distribuídos em 2 subfamílias, 18 tribos, 33 gêneros e 36 espécies. As espécies de parasitoides mais abundantes foram Brachymeria pandora e Ceyxia ventrispinosa. As espécies mais abundantes de coleobrocas foram Neoclytus pusillus, Achryson surinamum, Chlorida festiva, Coleoxestia atrata, Cosmoplatidius abare, Hexoplon uncinatum e Megacyllene acuta. / This research deals with the association of parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) with wood borers (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in a commercial forest of Tectona grandis located in Cáceres, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The insects were collected by using five Malaise traps in different sites of the forest, from October 2009 to September 2010. The following indexes were analyzed: frequency, constancy, abundance, dominance and species diversity. A total of 414 Chalcididae parasitoids and 715 Cerambycidae wood borers were collected. The most abundant parasitoid species were Brachymeria pandora and Ceyxia ventrispinosa while the most wood borers ones were Neoclytus pusillus, Achryson surinamum, Chlorida festiva, Coleoxestia atrata, Cosmoplatidius abare, Hexoplon uncinatum and Megacyllene acuta.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:30:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 2902547 bytes, checksum: b3e42d3da3a6329c5469d531a7c58101 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-22 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Understand how the distribution and the movement behavior of animals interact with landscape structure to generate patterns of distribution is the main goal of landscape ecology. We assume that the main source of biodiversity of the carpophiles beetles (Coleoptera) in the Zona da Mata (Minas Gerais - Brazil) are the remnants of original vegetation - forest fragments, and that different types of matrix show differences in permeability of this fauna, whether by micro-climatic characteristics that allow the persistence of organisms from the wood, either to differences in the availability of resources, enabling the establishment of these insects in the array. Therefore, we sampled nine forest fragments that were surrounded with the following matrices: three with coffee plantation, three with Eucalyptus plantation and three with pasture. In these environments the beetles were collected and measured the variables to test the hypothesis that resource availability, environmental conditions and habitat heterogeneity are determinants of the distribution of beetles. Carpophile beetles answered to the distance inside the forest differently depending on the type of matrix, but none of the environmental variables explained this response. The abundance of beetles decreases with distance from forest in pasture matrix, and did not change in matrix of the coffee and Eucalyptus plantation. The richness of beetles decreased in pasture matrix, did not change in Eucaliptus plantation matrix, but increased with distance from of the forest in coffee plantation. These patterns are importants for understanding the dynamics of populations that disperse between fragments and thus reduce the chance of extinction and maintain the diversity within the forest fragments. In addition, our results it is impotant to discuss the determinants of the diversity of these insects in agro-forest landscape, evaluating components that operate in the regulation of species in a community marked by human action. / Entender como a distribuição e o comportamento de movimento dos animais interagem com a estrutura da paisagem para gerar padrões de distribuição é o principal objetivo da ecologia de paisagens. Neste trabalho, partimos do pressuposto de que a principal fonte de biodiversidade de besouros carpófilos (Coleoptera) na região da Zona da Mata (no estado de Minas Gerais) são os remanescentes da cobertura vegetal original - os fragmentos florestais, e que diferentes tipos de matriz apresentam diferenças de permeabilidade a esta fauna, seja por características micro-climáticas que permitam a permanência de organismos vindos da floresta, seja por diferenças na disponibilidade de recursos, que permitam o estabelecimento destes insetos na matriz. Para isso foram amostrados nove fragmentos florestais que faziam limite com as seguintes matrizes: três com cafezal, três com eucaliptal e três com pastagem. Nesses ambientes foram coletados os besouros, e medidas as variáveis para testar a hipótese de que disponibilidade de recurso, condições ambientais e heterogeneidade do hábitat são determinantes da distribuição de besouros. Besouros carpófilos responderam à distância do interior da floresta de forma diferente dependendo do tipo de matriz, porém nenhuma das variáveis ambientais explicou esta resposta. A abundância de besouros diminui com a distância da floresta em matriz de pastagem e não se alterou em matriz de cafezal e eucalipto. A riqueza de besouros diminuiu em matriz de pastagem, não se alterou em matriz de eucaliptal, porém aumentou com a distância da floresta em matriz de cafezal. Esses padrões são fundamentais para o conhecimento da dinâmica das populações que se dispersam entre os fragmentos e, dessa forma, reduzem a chance de sua extinção e mantém a diversidade dentro dos fragmentos florestais. Além disso, permite discorrer sobre os determinantes da diversidade desses insetos na paisagem agro-florestal, avaliando os componentes que atuam na regulação das espécies numa comunidade marcada pela ação humana.

Communities of epigeic beetles were studied on five forest habitats with the different age structure in the Novohradské foothills area (Český Krumlov district, South Bohemia, Czech Republic). All studied habitats were found in three managed forests. The method of pitfall trapping was used for beetle sampling. There were 2735 specimens trapped. 25 beetles species were divided into two groups by its ecological preferences to the degree of human impact. Index of antropogenic influence had better values in two oldest studied habitats. Species diversity was higher in the oldest habitats too. The results indicate less human impact in mature managed forests than clearings and young managed forest stands.