Sexual dimorphism and feeding habits of Adelophryne nordestina (Anura: Eleutherodactylidae) in an Atlantic Forest remnant in Northeast Brazil

The feeding habits, the sexual dimorphism in size and sexual maturity of the actively foraging lizard Cnemidophorusocellifer were analysed in an area of a reforested Restinga habitat located in the municipality of Mataraca, along the northern-most coast of Paraíba State, Brazil. Seventy-five specimens of C. ocellifer were examined (46 males and 29A females). Of this total, only 23 specimens had prey in their stomachs. The most frequent prey consumed items were orthopterans (50%), coleopterans (23.9%) and arachnids (10.9%); termites and insect larvae were less consumed (both with 2.2%). There were no significant differences observed between the numbers of prey consumed by either males or females. There were significant differences in SVL (snout-vent length) between the sexes, with males attaining larger SVL values. When the influence of SVL was removed from the analyses, sexual dimorphism in the form was still reflected in the head size of these lizards. Sexual maturity in females and males was attained with SVL of 42.2 and 49.0 mm respectively. Although no significant difference was observed between the SVL of the females and the number of eggs produced, there was a clear tendency for larger females to produce more eggs. The low structural complexity of the vegetation and the poor soil quality in the reforested restinga area examined does not furnish favourable habitat for insect and termite larvae, contributing to the marked differences in the diet of the population of C. ocellifer observed in the present study in relation to the diet of their conspecifics in undisturbed areas of restinga, cerrado and caatinga.

Sand fly populations of different ecological niches in the Amaraji endemic American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ACL) focus of the Pernambuco Atlantic Forest region of northeastern Brazil were monitored spatiotemporally. Lutzomyia whitmani was dominant in all niches but occurred in smaller numbers in forested locations. L. whitmani was significantly less seasonal than the other species, being present throughout the year while other species were more abundant between February and April. These results suggest that L. whitmani may potentially be the principal vector of ACL in the region, even though the sand fly fauna was diverse: 88% were L.whitmani and 12% belonged to 11 other species. Two other species, L. complexa (1.3%) and L. migonei (0.8%), considered to be ACL vectors in other regions, were also present. This detailed picture of the sand fly population's abundance and spatiotemporal distribution provides a basis for future modeling studies of forecasting sand fly activity patterns and ACL occurrence.

Foi realizado o levantamento florístico das pteridófitas ocorrentes no Refúgio Ecológico Charles Darwin, município de Igarassu, Pernambuco, Brasil. A área é um remanescente de Floresta Atlântica que está em processo de preservação há aproximadamente 40 anos. Visando contribuir para o conhecimento das pteridófitas e seus aspectos ecológicos em Pernambuco, foram realizadas 13 excursões, no período de um ano e meio, para observação e coleta das plantas, acompanhando as estações chuvosa e seca. Foram registradas 21 espécies, distribuídas em 16 gêneros e 12 famílias: Thelypteridaceae (5 spp.), Polypodiaceae (3 spp.), Schizaeaceae (3 spp.), Blechnaceae (2 spp.), Aspleniaceae (1sp.), Cyatheaceae (1 sp.), Davalliaceae (1 sp.), Dennstaedtiaceae (1 sp.), Dryopteridaceae (1 sp.), Pteridaceae (1sp.), Selaginellaceae (1 sp.) e Vittariaceae (1 sp.). Foi registrada uma nova referência para o Nordeste do Brasil: Schizaea subtrijuga Mart. Predominam as espécies herbáceas, terrícolas, hemicriptófitas, ciófilas, encontradas principalmente no interior da mata. Apesar da maioria das espécies registradas serem amplamente distribuídas no Estado, a presença de espécies não muito frequentes em áreas de Floresta Atlântica em Pernambuco, como Cyclodium meniscioides (Willd.) C. Presl, Salpichlaena volubilis (Kaulf.) J. Sm., Polypodium aureum L. var. aureum e Selaginella dendricola Jenman e o registro de uma nova referência para o Nordeste, evidenciam a importância desta pteridoflora.

Ornithophilous plants were studied in a caatinga area (8o36'00 S and 38o34'5 W) in the State of Pernambuco, Northeast of Brazil, from July 2002 to June 2003. Eight ornithophilous species, belonging to five families and seven genera, were registered in the studied community. Cactaceae was the most representative family, with three species pollinated by hummingbirds, followed by Bromeliaceae with two species. Excepting for Bromelia laciniosa Mart. ex Schult. f. and Neoglaziovia variegata (Arruda) Mez (Bromeliaceae), the remaining species had flowering peak in the dry season. Fifty percent of the species have herbaceous habit, followed by shrubs (37.5%). Most species have red flowers (62.5%) and all of them have tubular flowers with corolla length of 20.2 ± 5.6 mm. Sugar concentration in the nectar varied from 18% to 33% and the volume from 22 to 41 µL. There were species flowering throughout the whole year. Five hummingbird species visited the flowers in the and only one was considered resident. Chlorostilbon aureoventris (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838), due to its frequency and visiting behaviour, was considered as the dominant species. The number of ornithophilous species is lower than those found in other ecosystems as, for example, in the Atlantic forest remnants and some other Neotropical areas. Furthermore, a Trochilinae hummingbird, and not a Phaethornithinae, acted as the community organizer species.

Body shape is predicted to differ among species for functional reasons and in relation to environmental niche and phylogenetic history. We quantified morphological differences in shape and size among 98.5% of the 129 species and all 21 genera of the Australo-Papuan endemic myobatrachid frogs to test the hypothesis that habitat type predicts body shape in this radiation. We tested this hypothesis in a phylogenetic context at two taxonomic levels: across the entire radiation and within the four largest genera. Thirty-four external measurements were taken on 623 museum specimens representing 127 species. Data for seven key environmental variables relevant to anurans were assembled for all Australian-distributed species based on species' distributions and 131,306 locality records. The Australo-Papuan myobatrachid radiation showed high diversity in adult body size, ranging from minute (15 mm snout-vent length) to very large species (92mm), and shape, particularly sin relative limb length. Five main morphological and environmental summary variables displayed strong phylogenetic signal. There was no clear relationship between body size and environmental niche, and this result persisted following phylogenetic correction. For most species, there was a better match between environment/habitat and body shape, but this relationship did not persist following phylogenetic correction. At a broad level, species fell into three broad groups based on environmental niche and body shape: 1) species in wet habitats with relatively long limbs, 2) species in arid environments with relatively short limbs (many of which are forward or backward burrowers) and 3) habitat generalist species with a conservative body shape. However, these patterns were not repeated within the four largest genera - Crinia, Limnodynastes, Pseudophryne and Uperoleia. Each of these genera displayed a highly conservative anuran body shape, yet individual species were distributed across the full spectrum of Australian environments. Our results suggest that phylogenetic legacy is important in the evolution of body size and shape in Australian anurans, but also that the conservative body plan of many frogs works well in a wide variety of habitats.

Despite being one of the groups most well studied in Brazil, the butterfly fauna of northeastern Brazil, especially north of the mouth of São Francisco River, is poorly known. The aim of this study was to inventory the butterfly fauna in a remnant of Atlantic Forest in the state of Pernambuco as a contribution to understanding the distribution of these insects. The study was carried out in a 384.7 hectares fragment of Parque Estadual Dois Irmãos, in the metropolitan region of Recife. The butterflies were sampled monthly with insect nets from August 2011 to July 2012 and from January to August 2016. Additional records were obtained from two entomological collections and from two previous visits to the area in July 2003 and August 2006. A total of 273 species was sampled in 464 hours, with an additional 15 species recorded from the Entomological Collections, totaling 288 butterfly species recorded. The richest family was Hesperiidae (108 species), followed by Nymphalidae (80), Lycaenidae (43) Riodinidae (37), Pieridae (16) and Papilionidae (4). The fauna was dominated by generalist species with a broad geographical distribution, many of them commonly found on open areas, forest edges and secondary vegetation. Roeberella lencates (Hewitson, 1875) and Pheles atricolor atricolor (Butler, 1871) (Riodinidae) represent new records for northeastern Brazil.

We present data about body size, sexual dimorphism, reproductive traits and diet ecology of Pleurodoma diplolister. This species is sexually dimorphic with females larger than males, corroborating others Leiuperidae species. The number of eggs varied from 62 to 1241 and we found a positive relationship between SVL of females and number of mature ovarian eggs but there is no relationship between SVL and volume of eggs. The diet of P. diplolister was composed by 11 categories of which Formicidae, Coleoptera and Orthopterans were the most important items and showed generalist and oportunistic predator habits. Data presented here should be considered in the development of future conservation strategies of anurans from Caatinga biome and other semiarid/arid environments.

The mollusc Anomalocardia brasiliana is sensitive to environmental variations with high mortality due to rains. In the state of Pernambuco, among the species of larger fisheries production, this clam has great economic importance. The study aimed to evaluate the remaining population of A. brasiliana of beach Mangue Seco, during the rainy and dry season, after the capture by fishermen and three moments of sampling. In evaluation of data three factors were considered: period; type of extraction and moment of sampling. Response variables analysed were total length and total number of animals sampled. The study was conducted in August 2009, after the rainy season, and in January 2010, the dry season in northeastern Brazil. The amount of captured animals with recommended size for fishing (> 20 mm) was above 80% in August, and below 20% in January. There was no significant difference between the sizes of the animals collected. The rainy season in northeastern Brazil influences the population of A. brasiliana , causing reduction in the number of clams, however, at this time of year there is a higher frequency of adults.

The environmental damage suffered by urban water bodies and the need for public water supply result in a greater interest in techniques that enable water treatment in an efficient and ecological way, such as River Bank Filtration (RBF). This technique uses the soil as a filtering medium, as well as the biological activities of organisms that dwell in the Hyporheic Zone (HZ), the zone of interaction between the surface water body and its underlying aquifer. Knowledge of sediments and hyporheic organisms is indispensable to study RBF. The present paper aimed to characterize the HZ of the middle section of Beberibe river (Pernambuco State, Brazil) in its sedimentological and biological aspects, with sampling druing the rainy and dry seasons, in two distinct sampling sites, one in a conserved area and the other in a highly urbanized area. Biological characterization was performed at the level of large taxonomic groups of meiofauna, accounting for 982 individuals, with the three most abundant taxa being Nematoda, Annelida, and Rotifera. Permutational Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA) statistical tests were performed, showing significant differences for the season and point factors (p < 0.05) in relation to abundance. The highest concentration of individuals and total organic matter were seen in the rainy season, especially at the point located in the urbanized area. With sedimentological characterization by grain size tests of the hyporheic sediments, the predominance of silt was observed during the rainy season, and sandy during the dry season. It was concluded that the main factor that influenced the structure of the meiofauna community was the release of domestic effluents. The information obtained by the present work helps to understand some features of the HZ, which is essential for RBF or other techniques that use the interstitial matrix.

th . Abstract. Podarcis muralis and Iberolacerta horvathi are sympatric, frequently syntop- ic, lacertids through the entire range of I. horvathi and very similar in their general body size and shape, as well as in most ecological traits. We morphologically com- pared adults from the area of sympatry using biometric measurements and performed analyses to investigate their sexual size and shape dimorphism. A total of 34 males and 24 females of I. horvathi, and 25 males and 23 females of P. muralis , all adult indi- viduals, were measured. Both species showed sexual size dimorphism with females being longer (snout-vent length, SVL) than males. After SVL correction (ANCOVA), head width, length and height and mass showed to be sexually dimorphic in both spe- cies. Males carry relatively wider, longer and higher heads and were heavier than con- specific females. I. horvathi heads were more flattened than those of P. muralis and P. muralis were heavier than I. horvathi. Both species displayed the same pattern of sexu- al dimorphism regarding body size, head size and shape not only in direction but also in magnitude. All results confirm that both species are very similar in studied biomet- ric characters and, together with their ecological similarities, these suggest in absence of other factors they are likely to interact when living together.

We describe a new species of tree frog related to the Bokermannohyla circumdata group, the northernmost record from Atlantic Forest remnants in eastern Bahia, northeastern Brazil, within regions known as Vale do Jiquiriçá, Baixo Sul, and Litoral Sul. The new species is diagnosed by medium size (snout–vent length 46.8–64.1 mm), head longer than wide, small tympanum, posterior surfaces of thighs with dark brown transverse stripes without additional thin stripes between them, vocal slits in adult males, and distinct advertisement call with a single note composed of 30–110 pulses distributed within 2–9 pulse groups, similar to the bleating of a goat. The new species is morphologically similar to B. hylax and B. lucianae, but is readily distinguished by the presence of barred posterior surfaces on the thighs without thin stripes between them (immaculate in B. lucianae; thin stripes intercalated with wider stripes in B. hylax) and by its distinct vocalization.

Effect of land use and seasonality on nematode faunal structure and ecosystem functions in the Caatinga dry forest

Abstract: Several aspects of natural history of Blaesodactylus ambonihazo, a gecko distributed in a dry forest of northwestern Madagascar, were investigated in the rainy and dry seasons between 2000 and 2006. There were no significant sexual size differences in snout-vent length, and no sexual dimorphism was detected either in head width or body mass. Females ceased oogenesis during the rainy season and were recrudescent at the beginning of the dry season. They probably lay eggs in the middle of the dry season. Hatchlings were observed at the beginning of the rainy season and probably reach adult size in the subsequent dry season. At night geckos perched on tree trunks and buildings and exhibited typical sit-and-wait foraging. During the day they retreated to shelters, mainly crevices between buttress roots. The gecko was thermally passive to environmental temperatures, showing a wide range of cloacal temperatures (15–30 C), but they selected relatively higher substrate temperatures at low air temperature...

We studied the reproduction, sexual dimorphism, and diet of Oxyrhopus trigeminus from two sites in southeastern Brazil. Oxyrhopus trigeminus from Irapé Power Plant (IPP) contained vitellogenic follicles and eggs in both rainy and dry seasons and clutch size was not correlated with female snout–vent length (SVL). Sexual dimorphism was evident. Females attain larger SVL but males have longer tails. We found three females from Santa Clara Power Plant (SPP) with vitellogenic follicles, all of them collected in the dry season. Mean SVLs of adult females from IPP and SPP were 717.7 mm and 786 mm, respectively. Mean SVL of adult males from IPP was 553.4 mm and the single adult male from SPP was 507 mm. The diet of O. trigeminus from IPP included rodents (46.7%), lizards (33.3%), and birds (20%). The volume of individual prey items was not correlated with snake SVL. The diet of O. trigeminus from SPP included rodents (37.5%), lizards (37.5%), birds (12.5%), and marsupials (12.5%). It seemed that an ontogenetic shift may occur in individuals of this snake species from IPP.

Assessment of wind resources in two parts of Northeast Brazil with the use of numerical models