Interação da temperatura com o ácaro parasita Acarophenax lacunatus (Cross & Krantz) (Prostigmata: Acarophenacidae) sobre o desenvolvimento de Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae)

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito da interação de diferentes temperaturas com o parasita Acarophenax lacunatus (Cross & Krantz) na supressão populacional de Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius). Os ensaios foram realizados com e sem o parasita, em cinco repetições, às temperaturas de 20, 25, 30 e 35ºC, umidade relativa de 60 ± 5% e escotofase de 24h. As unidades experimentais consistiram de placas de Petri, contendo 40 g de grãos de trigo (13% b.u.), infestados com 10 adultos de R. dominica. Foram realizadas três inoculações de cinco fêmeas de A. lacunatus por placa de Petri. As avaliações foram realizadas depois de 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 e 120 dias do início do experimento. A interação da temperatura com A. lacunatus mostrou ser uma importante ferramenta para a supressão populacional de R. dominica. Todavia, em temperaturas maiores que 25ºC, mesmo A. lacunatus reduzindo grande proporção das fases imaturas de R. dominica, as perdas de massa dos grãos foram elevadas aos 120 dias do armazenamento. A manutenção da temperatura dos grãos armazenados a 20ºC pode ser usada como complemento para o controle biológico de R. dominica com A. lacunatus.The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different temperatures with the association of the mite Acarophenax lacunatus (Cross & Krantz) on the population suppression of Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius). The experimental units were petri dishes containing 40 g of whole wheat grains (13% moisture content) infested with 10 adults of R. dominica, under the temperatures of 20, 25, 30 and 35ºC, with or without A. lacunatus, in five replicates. Relative humidity of 60 ± 5% and escotophase of 24h were used for all temperatures. Five days after the infestation, five mites were inoculated in each experimental unit. The evaluations were carried out at 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 days after R. dominica infestation. The interaction of the temperature with the parasite A. lacunatus was an important tool for the population suppression of R. dominica. In temperatures higher than 25ºC, however, despite the reduction of the immature stages of R. dominica, there was a high grain weight loss after 120 days. The maintenance of the temperature of the wheat grains stored at 20ºC can be used to complement the biological control of R. dominica with A. lacunatus

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans – anteaters, sloths, and armadillos – have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with 24 domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, ten anteaters, and six sloths. Our dataset includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data-paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the south of the USA, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to its austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n=5,941), and Cyclopes sp. has the fewest (n=240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n=11,588), and the least recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n=33). With regards to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n=962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n=12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other datasets of Neotropical Series which will become available very soon (i.e. Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans dataset

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

Inactivation Of E. Coli Mediated By High Surface Area Cuo Accelerated By Light Irradiation >360 Nm

CuO powders with different specific surface areas are reported hereby to inactivate E. coli in aqueous solution in the dark under visible light irradiation λ > 360 nm. The inactivation of E. coli mediated by the CuO suspensions was investigated as a function of the solution parameters: specific surface area of the Cu-oxides (40-77 m 2/g), amount of CuO, light intensity and fate of the Cu 1+-ion within the inactivation process. The specific surface area of the CuO was observed to play an important role during the E. coli inactivation kinetics. The light induced inactivation of E. coli in CuO suspensions (1 g/L) was complete within 4 h. The cytotoxicity of E. coli when using CuO (77 m 2/g) was found for CuO concentrations as low as 0.2 g/L. A reaction mechanism is suggested for the Fenton-like reactions due to the Cu-ions/CuO action and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in solution. These highly oxidative radicals decompose Orange II and methylene blue (MB) dyes in aqueous solution of CuO. The CuO in contact with the bacterial suspension shows a change in its surface oxidation state from Cu 2+ to Cu 1+. The outermost layer of the catalyst (5-7 nm) becomes mainly Cu 2O (80%) and CuO (20%) as observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A shift of the Cu 2p 3/2 peak from the initial position at 933.6-932.6 eV upon contact of the E. coli with CuO was observed concomitant with the disappearance of the Cu 2+ shake-up satellite lines at 942.3 and 962.2 eV. The XPS surface composition of copper catalyst is reported at different stages of E. coli inactivation and it was observed that the reduced copper oxide remains stable during the 4 h needed to inactivate the E. coli suspension. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.1991105111D.K. Karlin, Y. Gulneth, In Progress in Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 35, Lippard, Ed., 1987, pp. 220-237Tolman, B.W., (1997) Acc. Chem. Res., 30, pp. 227-240Bandara, J., Guasaquillo, I., Bowen, P., Soare, L., Jardim, F.W., Kiwi, J., (2005) Langmuir, 21, pp. 8554-8559Bandara, J., Kiwi, J., Pulgarin, C., Peringer, P., Pajonk, G.-M., Elalui, A., Albers, P., (1996) Environ. Sci. Technol., 30, pp. 1261-1267Li, D., Yuranova, T., Kiwi, J., (2004) Water Res., 38, pp. 3541-3550Oppenlaender, Th., (2003) Photochemical Purification of Water and Air, , Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, GermanyGak, Y., Nadtochenko, V., Kiwi, J., (1998) J. Photochem. Photobiol. A., 116, pp. 57-62Carnes, L.C., Stipp, J., Klabunde, J., Bonevich, J., (2002) Langmuir, 18, pp. 1352-1358Wang, W., Zhan, X., Wang, Y., Liu, Y., Zheng, G., Wang, G., (2002) Mater. Res. Bull., 37, pp. 1092-1100Sadana, A., Katzer, J., (1974) J. Catal., 35, pp. 140-152Hai-Yan, D., Yu-Ling, C., Jing-Kui, L., Si-Shen, X.J., (1993) Mater. Sci., 28, pp. 5176-5178Walsh, D., Arcelli, T., Ikoma, J., Tanaka, J., Mann, S., (2003) Nat. Maters, 2, pp. 386-388Yokota, T., Kubota, Y., Takahata, Y., Katsuyama, T., Matsuda, Y., (2004) J. Chem. Eng. Jpn, 37, pp. 238-244(2002) Drug Ther. Bull., 40, pp. 67-69Bader, H., Sturzenegger, V., Hoigné, (1988) J. Wat. Res., 22, pp. 1109-1115Hulanicki, A., Krawczyk, T.K.V., Lewenstam, A., (1984) Anal. Chim. Acta, 158, pp. 343-355Murray, P.R., Baron, E.J., Pfaller, M.A., Tenover, F.C., Yolken, R.H., (1995) Manual of Clinical Microbiology. sixth edition, , American Society of Microbiology, Washington, D.CCooney, T.E., (1995) Infect. Control. Hosp. Epidemiol., 16, pp. 444-450Bacsa, R., Kiwi, J., Ohno, T., Albers, P., Nadtochenko, V., (2005) J. Phys. Chem. B., 109, pp. 5994-6003. , (and references therein)Sunada, K., Watanabe, T., Hashimoto, K., (2003) Environ. Sci. Technol., 37, pp. 4785-4789Hardee, K., Bard, A., (1977) J. Electrochem. Soc., 124, p. 215Hardee, K., Bard, A., (1977) J. Electrochem. Soc., 124, pp. 215-224Goldstein, S., Czapski, G., Meyerstein, D., (1990) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 112, pp. 6489-6493Bielski, J.B., Cabelli, D., Arudi, R., Ross, A., (1985) J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data, 14, pp. 1041-1061Petasne, R.G., Zika, R.G., (1997) Mar. Chem., 56, pp. 215-225Kieber, R.J., George, R.H., (1995) Estuarine, Coastal Shelf Sci., 40, pp. 495-503Cooper, W.J., Lean, D.R.S., (1989) Environ. Sci. Technol., 23, pp. 1425-1428Jardim, W.F., Soldá, M.I., Gimenez, S.M., (1986) Sci. Total Environ., 58, pp. 47-54Weiss, J., (1935) Naturwissenchaften, 23, pp. 64-67Letelier, M.E., Lepe, A., Faundez, M., Salazar, J., Marin, R., Aracena, P., Speisky, H., (2005) Chem.-Biol. Interact., 151, pp. 71-82Takeshi, N., Insook, M., Noriyuki, S., Takakiro, I., (1997) J. Biol. Chem., 272, pp. 23037-2304

High-level phylogeographic structuring of Neoleucinodes elegantalis Guenée (Lepidoptera, Crambridae) in Brazil: an important tomato pest

ABSTRACT Neoleucinodes elegantalis is an important tomato pest in Brazil, occurring throughout the country and resulting in economic losses in agriculture. In several species, biogeographic studies in Brazil indicate the structuring of populations, following the refuge model, with a split between the populations of the northeast and the southeast regions of Brazil. The objective of this work was to analyze the phylogeography of N. elegantalis in Brazil, understanding its population structure and the demographic patterns. Larvae were collected from eight locations throughout Brazil, and the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene was analyzed. A total of 628 bp in 51 individuals were obtained, showing 12 haplotypes with a haplotype diversity of 0.836. Spatial analysis of molecular variance (SAMOVA) and cluster analysis showed two populations, indicating population structuring between individuals from the northeast (population 1) and southeast (population 2) regions of Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the clades corresponding to the groups defined by SAMOVA have a divergence time of 0.2–0.5 million years, suggesting isolation during climatic events and a separation of the two populations coinciding with the predicted refuges to the Atlantic forest