Food Relocation Behavior, Nests, and Brood Balls of Canthon quinquemaculatus Laporte de Castelnau (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)

Individuals of Canthon quinquemaculatus Laporte de Castelnau rolled balls up to 4 m from the food source. Stealing balls was common. Male headstand position was observed at the entrance of chambers containing a rolled ball and a female. Nests were shallow, telecoprid, and compound. Male and female cooperate, and parental care is performed (Nesting Pattern V). A total of 23 brood balls from five nesting chambers were obtained from terraria. The brood balls display a protuberance that is separated from the provision chamber by a partition of soil material. An egg chamber that lacks an organic lining is located at the base of the protuberance. At the roof of the egg chamber, there is an aeration conduit that ends in a filter composed of loose soil. The carrion provisions contain a high percentage of soil material. Some brood balls have larval fecal pellets in the external surface of the wall. Egg chamber separated from provisions, lack of an organic lining coating the egg chambers, ejection of larval fecal pellets, and loose soil filters are typical characters of brood balls made by necrophagous Scarabaeinae. The first three characters might reflect a set of adaptive characters of the necrophagous species to their food. These characters might be useful to distinguish fossil brood balls constructed by necrophagous Scarabaeinae from those constructed by coprophagous species.Fil: Cantil, Liliana Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación en Filogeografía y Filogenias Moleculares; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Genise, Jorge Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Genetic evidence and new morphometric data as essential tools to identify the Patagonian seahorse Hippocampus patagonicus (Pisces, Syngnathidae)

A genetic study to support morphometric analyses was used to improve the description and validate the Patagonian seahorse Hippocampus patagonicus (Syngnathidae) on the basis of a large number of specimens collected in the type locality (San Antonio Bay, Patagonia, Argentina). DNA sequence data (from the cytochrome b region of the mitochondrial genome) were used to differentiate this species from its relatives cited for the west Atlantic Ocean. Both phylogenetic and genetic distance analyses supported the hypothesis that H. patagonicus is a species clearly differentiated from others, in agreement with morphometric studies. Hippocampus patagonicus can be distinguished from Hippocampus erectus by the combination of the following morphometric characteristics: (1) in both sexes and all sizes of H. patagonicus, the snout length is always less than the postorbital length, whereas the snout length of H. erectus is not shorter than the postorbital length in the largest specimens; (2) in both sexes of H. patagonicus, the trunk length:total length (LTr:LT) is lower than in H. erectus (in female H. patagonicus: 0·27-0·39, H. erectus: 0·36-0·40 and in male H. patagonicus: 0·24-0·34, H. erectus: 0·33-0·43) and (3) in both sexes, tail length:total length (LTa:LT) in H. patagonicus is larger than in H. erectus (0·61-0·78 v. 0·54-0·64).Fil: González, Raul Alberto Candido. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Corio, C.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Medina, Alonso Ismael. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Maggioni, M.. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni; ArgentinaFil: Storero, Lorena Pia. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gosztonyi, Atila Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

100 Ma sweat bee nests: Early and rapid codiversification of crown bees and flowering plants

100 Ma sweat bee nests reported herein are the oldest evidence of crown bees. A new phylogeny for short-tongued bees, calibrated with these nests dated with 40Ar/39Ar, attests for the first time for a late Albian rapid diversification of bees along with angiosperms. Such hypothesis lacked paleontological support until this study. The new ichnospecies Cellicalichnus krausei, which was found along with wasp trace fossils and new beetle trace fossils in the Castillo Formation of Patagonia, represents typical Halictini nests composed of sessile cells that are attached to main tunnels. According to geological, paleosol, paleobotanical, and ichnological data, bees, and angiosperms cohabited in an inland and dry environment comparable to an open dry woodland or savanna, under warm-temperate and semiarid-subhumid climate, in the Southern Hemisphere by the Albian.Fil: Genise, Jorge Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Bellosi, Eduardo Sergio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Sarzetti, Laura Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Krause, Javier Marcelo. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación en Filogeografía y Filogenias Moleculares; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Umazano, Aldo Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Puerta, Pablo. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio; ArgentinaFil: Cantil, Liliana Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Jicha, Brian R.. University of Wisconsin; Estados Unido

An overview of hymenopteran cocoons as a tool to interpret ichnospecies of Fictovichnus (Pallichnidae) and other fossil cocoons of wasps

Hymenopteran cocoons are complex structures constructed from silk by larvae and exhibit a wide range of morphologies, compositions, and textures. The recognition of the most relevant characters of modern cocoons is important for the accurate identification of trace fossils attributed to wasps, which are included in the ichnogenus Fictovichnus. Characters assessed in this study are length, equatorial diameter, diameters near the extremes, shape, color, texture, surface morphology, and occurrence (isolated or clustered). We mapped these characters onto a hymenopteran phylogeny, revealing that the distribution of most of them has no evident phylogenetic signal. In many cases, there is more than one character state in a single family, whereas others appear distributed among several groups. Ellipsoidal and ovoid cocoons, showing membranous texture are the most basal and common characters. Bilobated, subconical and fusiform shapes, clustering, nipple and pores seem to be autapomorphies for certain groups. Crabronidae, Pompilidae, Scolioidea and Thynnoidea construct hard coriaceous cocoons, which may show distinctive surface morphologies and would have the highest preservation potential in paleosols. Data presented herein show that both Fictovichnus sciuttoi and Fictovichnus aragon were correctly attributed to Crabronidae or Pompilidae, although Scolioidea and Thynnoidea cannot be ruled out because of the shape and coriaceous texture of their cocoons. According to the low phylogenetic signal of Hymenoptera cocoons found herein, it would be impossible to refine the affinities of these ichnospecies to particular taxa. The simple morphology of Fictovichnus gobiensis precludes a definitive attribution, either to wasps or to coleopterans, even after the new data presented herein.Fil: Sarzetti, Laura Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Genise, Jorge Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Molina, María Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentin

Nests and brood balls of two South American species of Sulcophanaeus Olsoufieff, 1924 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Phanaeini)

Nests of Sulcophanaeus menelas (Laporte) and Sulcophanaeus imperator (Chevrolat) are composed of single or branched, vertical to horizontal tunnels, empty or partially filled with dung, and at most one nesting chamber bearing a brood ball. Horizontal, branched nests were found made only by S. imperator, whereas branched nests of S. menelas were vertical. Brood balls of S. menelas are drop-shaped with a conical upper pole and a plug of dung fibers. The egg chamber, inside the provisions, is lined with organic matter, probably adult feces. Brood balls of S. imperator are pearshaped, showing a protuberance composed of soil material, which contains the upper half of the egg chamber. The lower half is located in the provisions. The egg chamber has an upper pore and its wall, relatively thick, is made of soil material and dung fibers, like the external wall. These observations are analyzed considering previous reports, behavioral plasticity, adaptations to different environmental conditions, and phylogeny. Brood balls of S. imperator are similar to the ichnofossil Coprinisphaera kheprii Laza from the Cenozoic of Argentina.Fil: Sánchez, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Sarzetti, Laura Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación en Filogeografía y Filogenias Moleculares; ArgentinaFil: Genise, Jorge Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Curved fossil bee cells as tools for reconstructing the evolutionary history and geographic palaeodistribution of Diphaglossinae (Apoidea, Colletidae)

The new ichnospecies Celliforma curvata is described to include curved fossil bee cells from Argentina, Uruguay and the USA. The upper part of the cell (neck) of the new ichnospecies is curved, and accordingly, it can be attributed to bees of the subfamily Diphaglossinae (Colletidae). The oldest record of C. curvata, from the early Eocene of North America (52-49 Ma), provides a minimum age for the appearance of this subfamily, in accordance with an already proposed calibrated phylogeny. It is also proposed that these fossil cells could be used for future calibrations of molecular clocks. C. curvata indicates that Diphaglossinae had a widespread distribution, from southern Utah to extra-Andean Patagonia at 42°S. In contrast, extant representatives reach only 38°S in this region. Diphaglossinae were more extended southwards in the past thanks to better environmental conditions in extra-Andean Patagonia.Fil: Sarzetti, Laura Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Genise, Jorge Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Bedatou, Emilio. Universidad Nacional de la Pampa. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Cs.naturales. Pabellon de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de la Pampa. Universidad Nacional de la Pampa. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de la Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Verde, Mariano. Universidad de la Republica. Instituto de Ciencias Geológicas; Urugua

Leaf-litter brood chambers in dichotomius (luederwaldtinia) carbonarius (Mannerheim, 1829) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): a novel behavior for dung beetles

Dichotomius (Luederwaldtinia) carbonarius (Mannerheim, 1829) provisions its brood chambers entirely with comminuted leaf litter, mostly of fumo bravo (Solanum granuloso-leprosum Dunal), and covers them with a thin layer of entire or large fragments of leaves. This is the first recorded case of brood chambers provisioned exclusively with leaf litter. The brood chamber is composed of a main spherical chamber and a cylindrical protuberance in the proximal pole. The egg chamber is located at the distal pole. These brood chambers show, to some extent, intermediate features between brood masses and brood balls. The pupation chamber is constructed without any pellet arrangement and differs from others described from South America and also from those preserved inside Patagonian fossil brood balls, suggesting that this branch of Dichotomius Hope including Luederwaldtinia Martínez could be a separate lineage.Fil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación En Filogeografía y Filogenias Moleculares; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Cantil, Liliana Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Sarzetti, Laura Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Genise, Jorge Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; Argentin

The aestivation chamber of the giant earthworm Glossoscolex bergi (Glossoscolecidae) in the subtropical rainforest of Misiones (Argentina)

Glossoscolex bergi (Glossoscolecidae) is a giant earthworm from the rainforest of Misiones (Argentina). The large size of its aestivation chamber and the meniscate burrows connected to it allow us to describe morphological details and reinterpret some characteristics of the fossil counterpart Castrichnus incolumis. The concavity of menisci, either in the burrow or in those pellets lining the chamber, shows concentric ridges and radiating striae that result from the impression of the last segments of the body. The meniscate burrows associated to the chamber are different from described ichnospecies of Taenidium, because of the surface texture of the meniscus. The aestivation chamber was produced during an atypical four-month drought in a region that lacks a seasonal climate. This suggests that Castrichnus incolumis would be also an indicator of drought periods even in non seasonal climates.Fil: Genise, Jorge Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Cantil, Liliana Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Grupo de Investigación en Filogeografía y Filogenias Moleculares; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Sarzetti, Laura Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales; Argentin

Reply to Luzzatto et al.(2014): "Comment on 'Genetic evidence and new morphometric data as essential tools to identify the Patagonian seahorse Hippocampus patagonicus (Pisces, Syngnathidae), González et al. (2014)'"

Luzzatto et al. (2014) criticize both methodological and other aspects of our work (González et al., 2014). Our paper is a redescription of the Patagonian seahorse Hippocampus patagonicus Piacentino & Luzzatto 2004, based on the combination of morphometric and genetic analyses, which definitively contributes to clarifying the taxonomic status of H. patagonicus and validates the species. After criticizing several methodological aspects of our work, the authors concluded that.The work presented by González et al. (2014) is based on misinterpretations of the original study they claim to be improving and no new considerations are provided about the taxonomic status of H. patagonicus. Below, we respond to these criticisms. The original description of H. patagonicus by Piacentino & Luzzatto (2004) presents conceptual and methodological deficiencies that indicate a redescription was necessary. Our study clearly identifies these gaps, related with the improper selection of diagnostic characters. Our study demonstrates that the morphometric measures used as diagnostic characters in the original description of H. patagonicus overlap with those reported by other authors for Hippocampus erectus Perry 1810 (Vari, 1982; Lourie et al., 1999 and see Table V in González et al., 2014), specifically: (1) the number of rays in the pectoral-fin, (2) the number of rings on the tail and (3) the proportion of the snout length with respect to the length of the head. González et al. (2014) also present strong evidence (as well as evidence from other authors) that other characters given in the original description are not appropriate for diagnosis of seahorses (i.e. size and shape of the spines, colour patterns and pigmentation).Fil: González, Raul Alberto Candido. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni; ArgentinaFil: Dinghi, Pablo Adrián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Corio, Cristian Hernan. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Medina, Alonso Ismael. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Maggioni, Matías. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni; ArgentinaFil: Storero, Lorena Pia. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Almirante Storni; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Gosztonyi, Atila Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin