Costa Rican Species Research Articles

Meeting the southern brothers: a revision of the Neotropical spider genus Hexapopha Platnick, Berniker & Vquez, 2014 (Araneae, Oonopidae).

The goblin spider genus Hexapopha Platnick, Berniker & Vquez, 2014 is revised. The four Costa Rican species recognized in the original description of the genus are re-diagnosed: H. reimoseri (Fage, 1938) (the type species), H. hone Platnick, Berniker & Vquez, 2014, H. osa Platnick, Berniker & Vquez, 2014 and H. jimenez Platnick, Berniker & Vquez, 2014. Two species recently transferred from Gamasomorpha Karsch, 1881 are redescribed: H. brasiliana (Bristowe, 1938), from southern Brazil, of which the male is described for the first time, and H. m-scripta (Birabn, 1954), from Argentina. Thirty-five new species are described from South America, elevating the total number of species to forty-one. Thirty three species are described from Brazil: H. una (, ), H. brescoviti (), H. peba (,), H. harveyi (,), H. fannesi (), H. erebai (), H. periclitata (,), H. delta (), H. tallitae (,), H. platnicki (,), H. santosi (,), H. rheimsae (), H. wangi (,), H. ruizi (), H. itabaiana (), H. ramirezi (), H. depleta (), H. gunma (), H. corniculata (,), H. egua (), H. izquierdoi (,), H. numerosa (,), H. baehrae (,), H. excavata (,), H. ubicki (,), H. quadraginta (,), H. ilhoa (,), H. marajoara (,), H. kropfi (,), H. caboquinho (), H. grismadoi (), H. manauara (,) and H. pantaneira (,). Two additional new species, H. pithecia (,) from Peru and H. sorkini (,) from Venezuela are also described. Species of Hexapopha are restricted to the Neotropical region, from Costa Rica to Northern Argentina. Brazil, where 85% of the species occur, harbors the highest species richness. A key and distribution maps are provided for all species.

Description of seven new species of Edessa Fabricius, 1803 from Central America (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae, Edessinae).

Not much is known about the Central American stink bug fauna of the Edessinae subfamily. A recent survey of Costa Rican species from this subfamily listed 65 species, of which 47 were new additions. More recently, a description of a group of species of Edessa added more three species to the fauna of Costa Rica. This work is part of a series of articles aiming to review Edessinae from Central America. In this article seven new species are described from Panama and Costa Rica: Edessa bituberculata sp. n., E. bivenulata sp. n., E. enargocelida sp. n., E. fuscolimbata sp. n., E. fuscopunctata sp. n., E. helvoalata sp. n. and E. holochlorata sp. n.

On the identities of Neotropical Stegana species (Diptera, Drosophilidae). III. Four Costa Rican species described by J. R. Malloch

The identities of the following four New World species of Stegana from Costa Rica, Stegana atrimana Malloch, 1924, Stegana nigrita Malloch, 1924, Stegana schildi Malloch, 1924, and Stegana tempifera Malloch, 1924, are clarified, and their redescriptions are provided. According to the original descriptions, the holotypes of the four species, deposited in the National Museum of Natural History (USNM), were males. However, upon dissection of their terminalia, we realized that all but one (S. tempifera) are females. Therefore, redescriptions of their external morphology (and/or terminalia) are mainly based on male paratypes, except for S. schildi, which is based on a male non-type specimen from Panama bearing Malloch’s handwritten identification label. Photomicrographs of the habitus and terminalia, in addition to china ink drawings of the aedeagi and associated sclerites, are included.

An integrative water quality evaluation in two surface water bodies from a tropical agricultural region in Cartago, Costa Rica.

A monitoring study was carried out in two micro-catchments in the Reventazón basin, in Northern Cartago, Costa Rica; pesticide occurrence and water quality were analyzed. Twelve pesticides were detected, five insecticides (chlorpyrifos, carbofuran, cypermethrin, imidacloprid, and oxamyl), four fungicides (carbendazim, imazalil, metalaxyl, and thiabendazole), and three herbicides (diuron, linuron, and terbutryn); eight of them presented risk quotients RQ >1, which implies a high risk for the environment. The water quality evaluation included fourteen physicochemical and microbiological parameters, out of which thermotolerant coliforms, nitrate, and total phosphorus exceeded a selected threshold value in every sample. Five metals were also included in the evaluation, Pb was the most frequent, followed by few detections of Cd, Cu, and Cr. Four water quality indexes (WQIs) were applied, two of them, the CCME WQI, based on physicochemical parameters, and the BMWP-CR WQI, based on benthic macroinvertebrate recount adapted to Costa Rican species, categorized all the sampling points as "bad" and "very bad" quality. This work of monitoring is important in the Latin American region, where there is a lack of information for regulation improvement and management decisions. These results showed poor management of the micro-catchments in this agricultural rural area.

A new species of Eurystyles (Orchidaceae: Spiranthinae) from Costa Rica

Eurystyles comprises about 23 species ranging from Mexico to northern Argentina. Six species are recognized in Mexico and Central America and three in Costa Rica. A new species, named E. uxoris, is here described and illustrated based on Costa Rican material. The species is similar to Eurystyles auriculata and E. standleyi, however, it differs by the smaller plants up to 3 cm tall, smaller leaves of less than 1.6 cm long, flowers with brown dorsal sepal and brown lip apex, petals callose or thickened at apex, and a pandurate lip. Information about distribution, habitat, ecology, etymology and phenology of the newspecies is provided. An updated key to the Costa Rican species of Eurystyles is presented.

Two new reared species of Heteropteron Brullé (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Cardiochilinae) from northwest Costa Rica, with the first definitive host records for the genus

Two new Costa Rican species of the braconid parasitoid wasp subfamily Cardiochilinae, Heteropteron kidonoi Dabek & Whitfield and Heteropteron hasegawai Dabek & Whitfield, are described and illustrated from dry forest in the Area de Conservacion Guanacastae, along with data on rearing from their hosts. Heteropteron kidonoi is a solitary endoparasitoid of Stenoma cathosiota (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae) on Roupala montana (Proteaceae), while H. hasegawai is a solitary endoparasitoid of Carthara abrupta (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) on the same host plant, but typically at slightly higher elevation localities. Diagnostic characters are provided to distinguish these two new species from each other, and also from the three previously decsribed species of Heteropteron. Heteropteron kidonoi and H. hasegawai are the first species of Heteropteron to have any host data, and also are the first to be reported in Costa Rica.

Revision of the Costa Rican species of Myoxanthus (Pleurothallidinae: Orchidaceae)

The ten Costa Rican species of Myoxanthus are discussed, described and illustrated based mainly on native living material. A key for the species, notes on history, ecology, diagnostic features, taxonomy and distribution maps are included. Each species is illustrated with a line drawing and a Lankester composite dissection plate. Photographs of the morphological variation of flowers and lips are provided. The identity of M. exasperatus is clarified and recircumscribed to include M. speciosus. Myoxanthus parahybunensis is reconsidered, and a lectotype is selected.

Zygopetalinae novae et criticae (Orchidaceae)

The new genus Pridgeonia, and eight new orchid species in the genera Benzingia, Daiotyla, Dichaea, Ixyophora, and Pridgeonia, all belonging to the subtribe Zygopetalinae, are described. Complete descriptions, with notes on etymology, habitat, and ecology, and discussion of phylogenetic affinities, are provided for each new taxon, supplemented with line drawings, photographs, digital composite plates, and distribution maps. New combinations and synonyms are proposed in the genera Aetheorhyncha, Benzingia, Dichaea, and Ixyophora. Dichaea dressleri and Kefersteinia alata are recorded and illustrated for the first time for the flora of Costa Rica. Keys for the genus Benzingia and the Costa Rican species of Dichaea are proposed.

The conservation status of Costa Rican velvet worms (Onychophora): geographic pattern, risk assessment and comparison with New Zealand velvet worms

Introduction: Charismatic species, like the panda, play an important role in conservation, and velvet worms arguably are charismatic worms. Thanks to their extraordinary hunting mechanism, they have inspired from a female metal band in Japan, to origami worms in Russia and video game monsters in the USA. Objective: To assess their conservation status in Costa Rica (according to data in the UNA Onychophora Database) and compare it with equivalent data from elsewhere. Methods: we located all collection records of the 29 species in the map of the Costa Rican Conservation Network. Results: We found that seven species are protected inside Forest Reserves, five in Protected Zones, four in Wildlife Refuges, two in National Parks and one, Principapillatus hitoyensis, in a strictly pristine Biological Reserve. The largest species in the world, Peripatus solorzanoi, occurs both inside a Forest Reserve and in protected private land. Protection inside Costa Rican nature areas is enforced year-round by personnel that includes armed guards and is supported by educational programs in surrounding communities. Twelve species have not been found in protected areas, but in Costa Rica, all biological species, named and unnamed, are protected by law and cannot be legally collected, or exported, without technically issued permits. Conclusion: Like in the only other country with similar information (New Zealand), the conservation of onychophorans seems to be of least concern for at least two thirds of the known Costa Rican species. Epiperipatus isthmicola, recently rediscovered after a century of absence in collections, can be considered Threatened because nearly all of its natural habitat has now been covered by a city.

On the taxonomy of snakes in the genus Leptodeira, with an emphasis on Costa Rican species


 
 
 
 Considerable confusion surrounds the taxonomy of snakes in the genus Leptodeira, which contains 12 currently recognized species. Herein I review the genus and recognize 15 species based on previously published morphological and genetic data. Easily recognized traits can be used to identify Costa Rican species of Leptodeira, and taxonomic insights into all species in the L. annulata-septentrionalis complex are discussed. Photographs of all currently recognized species and subspecies are included.
 
 
 

A revision of the Costa Rican species of Stenoeurilla Brailovsky Barrera (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae: Stenoscelideini), with the description of two new species, new distributional records, synonymical note, and key to the known species.

The genus Stenoeurilla Brailovsky Barrera (Coreidae) in Costa Rica is revised. Two new species, S. herediana, and S. mesoamericana, are described. New distributional records for S. hansoni are added. A key to the known species of the genus is included. Photographs of dorsal habitus, male genital capsule and parameres are provided as well as drawings of hind tibiae. Stenoscelidea prolixa Brailovsky 1983 is placed in synonymy under Stenoeurilla aenescens (Stål) 1870.

Mysidopsis gemina n. sp. (Crustacea: Mysida: Mysidae) from the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica

Abstract Mysidopsis gemina n. sp. is described from protected and exposed beach habitats in the provinces of Puntarenas and Guanacaste on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Morphologically, M. gemina most closely resembles M. furca Bowman, 1957 known from the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America. Both these species are unique within the genus by their distinctively sexually dimorphic telsons. The new Costa Rican species can be distinguished from M. furca and other species of Mysidopsis by a combination of having a male with biarticulated endopods on the first pleopods and pleopods 2-5 with large plate-like pseudopodia (exites). The occurrence of these characters and morphological features within the subfamily Leptomysinae is discussed.

The Living Atlases Community in Action: Sharing Species Pages through the Atlas of Living Costa Rica

The Atlas of Living Costa Rica (http://www.crbio.cr/) is a biodiversity data portal, based on the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), which provides integrated, free, and open access to data and information about Costa Rican biodiversity in order to support science, education, and conservation. It is managed by the Biodiversity Informatics Research Center (CRBio) and the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio). Currently, the Atlas of Living Costa Rica includes nearly 8 million georeferenced species occurrence records, mediated by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), which come from more than 900 databases and have been published by research centers in 36 countries. Half of those records are published by Costa Rican institutions. In addition, CRBio is making a special effort to enrich and share more than 5000 species pages, developed by INBio, about Costa Rican vertebrates, arthropods, molluscs, nematodes, plants and fungi. These pages contain information elements pertaining to, for instance, morphological descriptions, distribution, habitat, conservation status, management, nomenclature and multimedia. This effort is aligned with collaboration established by Costa Rica with other countries such as Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil to standarize this type of information through Plinian Core (https://github.com/PlinianCore), a set of vocabulary terms that can be used to describe different aspects of biological species. The Biodiversity Information Explorer (BIE) is one of the modules made available by ALA which indexes taxonomic and species content and provides a search interface for it. We will present how CRBio is implementing BIE as part of the Atlas of Living Costa Rica in order to share all the information elements contained in the Costa Rican species pages.

A taxonomic study of Costa Rican Leptodrepana with the description of twenty-four new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Cheloninae).

The genus Leptodrepana Shaw was described in 1983, but prior to the current study only one Neotropical species had been described from Mexico and none were named from Costa Rica. In this paper twenty-four new species are described and named from Costa Rica: L. alexisae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. atalanta Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. conda Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. conleyae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. demeter Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. eckerti Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. gauldilox Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. hansoni Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. kimbrellae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. lorenae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. munjuanae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. ninae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. pamelabbas Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. ronnae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. rosanadana Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. schuttei Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. scottshawi Dadelahi, sp. n., L. shriekae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. sohailae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. sorayae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. soussanae Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. stasia Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., L. strategeri Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n., and L. thema Dadelahi & Shaw, sp. n. A key to Costa Rican species of Leptodrepana is provided. The flagellum of all female Leptodrepana described in this work is reduced to only 17 flagellomeres. This character state is also found in two North American species described by Shaw (1983), L. opuntiae Shaw and L. oriens Shaw. It is hypothesized that a female antenna with 17 flagellomeres is a synapomorphy for a species-group comprising all the Costa Rican Leptodrepana species as well as two of the Mexican and North American species, L. opuntiae and L. oriens.

Two new species of Pleurothallis (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) allied to P. cardiothallis, with a note on flower activity

Two new species of Pleurothallis subsection Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae from Costa Rica, allied to P. cardiothallis, are described and illustrated, and their relationships discussed. Pleurothallis scotinantha is compared with P. oncoglossa, from which it can be easily distinguished by the concolorous, dark purple flowers, the distinctly de exed petals, and the lip without a distal callus that is not hooked at the apex. Pleurothallis navisepala, from the northern Costa Rican cordilleras, is compared with P. cardiothallis, from which it is distinguished by the simultaneous owering of two or more owers, the much smaller size of the flowers, and the deeply navicular sysnsepal, which prevents complete spreading of the ower. A key to the Costa Rican species of the group is presented. Observations on oral behavior in the species allied to P. cardiothallis are provided and the possible function of this behavior is discussed. The visit of a tephritid y to the flowers of P. navisepala is described.

Two new species of Echinosepala (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae)

We describe and illustrate two new species of Echinosepala from Costa Rica, they are placed within a phylogenetic framework of the genus, and compared to their closest relatives. A short resume of the genus’ history is given, reviewing the main characters that have been used to group its species at various taxonomic ranks. Echinosepala expolita is compared with E. pan, from which it mainly differs by the glabrous, inflated sheaths that cover the ramicaul, the distinctly broader ligulate-lanceolate leaves, the lanate-hirsute ovary, the much larger flower, and the tomentose abaxial indumentum of the sepals. Echinosepala longipedunculata is similar to E. aspasicensis, but can be recognized by the unusually long peduncle, the greenish yellow flower, the verrucose-tuberculate adaxial surface of the sepals, and the shorter, truncate, orange lip. A key to the Costa Rican species of Echinosepala is provided. A new combination in Echinosepala is proposed for Acianthera biseta from Peru.

The power of short lectures to improve support for biodiversity conservation of unpopular organisms: an experiment with worms

Public opinion is important in obtaining support for the conservation of biodiversity, and invertebrates have a "public relations problem" because -for reasons that are both cultural and biological- they are poorly known and often unpopular. In this article I present the results of an experiment on the power of a short lecture to improve attitude towards invertebrates, using the case of velvet worms. Velvet worms are "living fossils" that have inspired a wide range of cultural expressions, probably because of the adhesive net they use to capture prey. For the experiment, a group of 141 Costa Ricans, aged 10 to 58 years old, rated their reaction to a color photograph of Epiperipatus biolleyi, a Costa Rican species of velvet worm, before and after a five-minute lecture about the natural history of the worm. Even before the treatment, most of the respondents had a correct idea of the animal's anatomy (84%); supported the use of public funds to conserve it (71%); and more than half perceived the worm in a positive way (58%). They stated that they were willing to donate a mean of US$7,00 from their own pocket for the worm's protection (six times more if they had university education); and were less likely to reject the worm if they kept pets at home. Gender, age and education did not have any effect on most variables of attitude and knowledge. Compared with the control group, the group that received the lecture had a 17% improvement in attitude. The Costa Rican educational system, focused on nature and its conservation, can explain the generally good attitude and knowledge of invertebrates found in this study; and a five-minute natural history lecture can produce a significant improvement in perception of an animal that is generally unattractive: a worm.

Lower tier toxicity risk assessment of agriculture pesticides detected on the Río Madre de Dios watershed, Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is a tropical country with one of the highest biodiversity on Earth. It also has an intensive agriculture, and pesticide runoff from banana and pineapple plantations may cause a high toxicity risk to non-target species in rivers downstream the plantations. We performed a first tier risk assessment of the maximum measured concentrations of 32 pesticides detected over 4years in the River Madre de Dios (RMD) and its coastal lagoon on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) were plotted in order to derive HC5 values for each pesticide, i.e., hazard concentrations for 5% of the species, often used as environmental criteria values in other countries. We also carried out toxicity tests for selected pesticides with native Costa Rican species in order to calculate risk coefficients according to national guidelines in Costa Rica. The concentrations of herbicides diuron and ametryn and insecticides carbofuran, diazinon, and ethoprophos exceeded either the HC5 value or the lower limit of its 90% confidence interval suggesting toxic risks above accepted levels. Risk coefficients of diuron and carbofuran derived using local guidelines indicate toxicity risks as well. The assessed fungicides did not present acute toxic risks according to our analysis. Overall, these results show a possible toxicity of detected pesticides to aquatic organisms and provide a comparison of Costa Rican national guidelines with more refined methods for risk assessment based on SSDs. Further higher tier risk assessments of pesticides in this watershed are also necessary in order to consider pesticide water concentrations over time, toxicity from pesticide mixtures, and eventual effects on ecosystem functions.

Proteomic analysis of venom variability and ontogeny across the arboreal palm-pitvipers (genus Bothriechis)

Bothriechis is a genus of eleven currently recognized slender and arboreal venomous snakes, commonly called palm-pitvipers that range from southern Mexico to northern South America. Despite dietary studies suggesting that palm-pitvipers are generalists with an ontogenetic shift toward endothermic prey, venom proteomic analyses have revealed remarkable divergence between the venoms of the Costa Rican species, B. lateralis, B. schlegelii, B. supraciliaris, and B. nigroviridis. To achieve a more complete picture of the venomic landscape across Bothriechis, the venom proteomes of biodiversity of the northern Middle American highland palm-pitvipers, B. thalassinus, B. aurifer, and B. bicolor from Guatemala, B. marchi from Honduras, and neonate Costa Rican B. lateralis and B. schlegelii, were investigated. B. thalassinus and B. aurifer venoms are comprised by similar toxin arsenals dominated by SVMPs (33–39% of the venom proteome), CTLs (11–16%), BPP-like molecules (10–13%), and CRISPs (5–10%), and are characterized by the absence of PLA2 proteins. Conversely, the predominant (35%) components of B. bicolor are D49-PLA2 molecules. The venom proteome of B. marchi is similar to B. aurifer and B. thalassinus in that it is rich in SVMPs and BPPs, but also contains appreciable amounts (14.3%) of PLA2s. The major toxin family found in the venoms of both neonate B. lateralis and B. schlegelii, is serine proteinase (SVSP), comprising about 20% of their toxin arsenals. The venom of neonate B. schlegelii is the only palm-pitviper venom where relative high amounts of Kunitz-type (6.3%) and γPLA2 (5.2%) inhibitors have been identified. Despite notable differences between their proteomes, neonate venoms are more similar to each other than to adults of their respective species. However, the ontogenetic changes taking place in the venom of B. lateralis strongly differ from those that occur in the venom of B. schlegelii. Thus, the ontogenetic change in B. lateralis produces a SVMP-rich venom, whereas in B. schlegelii the age-dependent compositional shift generates a PLA2-rich venom. Overall, genus-wide venomics illustrate the high evolvability of palm-pitviper venoms. The integration of the pattern of venom variation across Bothriechis into a phylogenetic and biogeographic framework may lay the foundation for assessing, in future studies, the evolutionary path that led to the present-day variability of the venoms of palm-pitvipers. SignificanceBothriechis represents a monophyletic basal genus of eleven arboreal palm-pitvipers that range from southern Mexico to northern South America. Despite palm-pitvipers' putative status as diet generalists, previous proteomic analyses have revealed remarkable divergence between the venoms of Costa Rican species, B. lateralis, B. schlegelii, B. supraciliaris, and B. nigroviridis. Our current proteomic study of Guatemalan species, B. thalassinus, B. aurifer, and B. bicolor, Honduran B. marchi, and neonate B. lateralis and B. schlegelii from Costa Rica was undertaken to deepen our understanding of the evolutionary pattern of venom proteome diversity across Bothriechis. Ancestral characters are often, but not always, preserved in an organism's development. Venoms of neonate B. lateralis and B. schlegelii are more similar to each other than to adults of their respective species, suggesting that the high evolvability of palm-pitviper venoms may represent an inherent feature of Bothriechis common ancestor. Our genus-wide data identified four nodes of venom phenotype differentiation across the phylogeny of Bothriechis. Integrated into a phylogenetic and biogeographic framework, the pattern of venom variation across Bothriechis may lay the groundwork to establish whether divergence was driven by selection for efficient resource exploitation in arboreal ‘islands’, thereby contributing to the ecological speciation of the genus.

Evidencia fotográfica de especies desconocidas de onicóforos (Onychophora: Peripatidae) de Costa Rica

Los onicóforos son animales difíciles de encontrar e identificar a nivel de especie en condiciones de campo. En la actualidad hay siete especies descritas en Costa Rica, y existe la necesidad de una adecuada revisión taxonómica. Sin embargo la tecnología permite la documentación de especies raras e incluso no descritas. Compilamos fotografías donadas e imágenes que se encuentran en línea y logramos identificar 18 especies nuevas para Costa Rica (basados en las características taxonómicas y distribución geográfica). Adicionalmente presentamos información de relevancia científica sobre las mismas. A pesar de que no se puede hacer una descripción formal de la especie solo con las fotografías, la información que nos brinda permite conocer nuevas localidades para investigaciones futuras. Nuestro objetivo es preservar esta información y sensibilizar a los estudiantes de biología y fotógrafos de la naturaleza, sobre la trascendencia de cada hallazgo de un onicóforo. Estos hallazgos con frecuencia dan lugar a descubrimientos de nuevas especies.