First Time In Colombia Research Articles

A new variety of Schizachyrium (Poaceae: Andropogoneae) from South America, with notes on the infraspecific taxa of Schizachyrium tenerum

A new variety of Schizachyrium tenerum from South America is described and illustrated. The new taxon (S. tenerum var. muticum) differs from the other varieties of the species (S. tenerum var. tenerum and S. tenerum var. hirtiglume) mainly by the absence of awns in the sessile spikelets, which is a very unusual character in the genus. The new variety occurs in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Brazil. A taxonomic discussion and an identification key for the infraspecific taxa of S. tenerum are also presented, as well as illustrations of all varieties of the species. Additionally, Schizachyrium tenerum var. hirtiglume is reported for the first time for Colombia.

First report of the genus Umbelligerus Deitz, 1975 (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Stegaspidinae) for Colombia

The genus Umbelligerus is reported for the first time in Colombia from the review of a male specimen found in the department of Amazonas. This specimen was deposited in the Museo de Entomología de la Universidad del Valle. A map of the known geographical distribution and photographs of the Umbelligerus peruviensis are included.

The first Paratropididae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae) from Colombia: new genus, species and records.

The family of mygalomorph spiders Paratropididae Simon, 1889 is here reported for the first time for Colombia, where it is represented by three genera (Anisaspis, Paratropis, Stormtropisgen. n.) and eight species. One genus, Stormtropis, and six species constitute new taxa that are here diagnosed, described and illustrated. The geographical distribution of Paratropispapilligera FO Pickard-Cambridge, 1896 and Paratropiselicioi Dupérré, 2015 are also redescribed and expanded on the basis of new material examined. The diagnosis of the subfamily Paratropidinae, Paratropis Simon, 1889 and Anisaspis Simon, 1892 are emended including the variations of the new species. Likewise, a geographic distribution map for the entire family and a taxonomic key for the males of Paratropidinae are included. Other biogeographic, morphological, and taxonomic aspects are discussed.

Presence and distribution of Leptodactylus guianensis Heyer and de Sá, 2011 in Colombia: comparisons with other species in the L. latrans group

ABSTRACTLeptodactylus guianensis is reported for the first time for Colombia along with a distributional map of the species. The species is the fifth species of the L. latrans species group documented in the country. Males possess a single, conical and slightly chisel-shaped thumb spine; only three species in the group have a single thumb spine. In collections, specimens of L. guianensis are misidentified as L. macrosternum, L. latrans or L. bolivianus. We provide morphological, colouration and habitat descriptions for where the species occurs in Colombia.

Behavior and abundance of Anopheles darlingi in communities living in the Colombian Amazon riverside.

In the past few years, relative frequencies of malaria parasite species in communities living in the Colombian Amazon riverside have changed, being Plasmodium vivax (61.4%) and Plasmodium malariae (43.8%) the most frequent. Given this epidemiological scenario, it is important to determine the species of anophelines involved in these parasites’ transmission. This study was carried out in June 2016 in two indigenous communities living close to the tributaries of the Amazon River using protected human bait. The results of this study showed a total abundance of 1,085 mosquitos, of which 99.2% corresponded to Anopheles darlingi. Additionally, only two anopheline species were found, showing low diversity in the study areas. Molecular confirmation of some individuals was then followed by evolutionary analysis by using the COI gene. Nested PCR was used for identifying the three Plasmodium species circulating in the study areas. Of the two species collected in this study, 21.0% of the An. darlingi mosquitoes were infected with P. malariae, 21.9% with P. vivax and 10.3% with Plasmodium falciparum. It exhibited exophilic and exophagic behavior in both study areas, having marked differences regarding its abundance in each community (Tipisca first sampling 49.4%, Tipisca second sampling 39.6% and Doce de Octubre 10.9%). Interestingly, An. mattogrossensis infected by P. vivax was found for the first time in Colombia (in 50% of the four females collected). Analysis of An. darlingi COI gene diversity indicated a single population maintaining a high gene flow between the study areas. The An. darlingi behavior pattern found in both communities represents a risk factor for the region’s inhabitants living/working near these sites. This highlights the need for vector control efforts such as the use of personal repellents and insecticides for use on cattle, which must be made available in order to reduce this Anopheline’s abundance.

Taxonomía y distribución de las hormigas del género Tapinoma (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) en Colombia

Se revisa por primera vez el género Tapinoma en Colombia, a partir de material depositado en colecciones biológicas y de recolecciones esporádicas en el territorio nacional. Se registran cuatro especies, tres de ellas T. litorale, T. melanocephalum y T. ramulorum, y una cuarta sin describir. También se provee una clave taxonómica basada en las obreras, así como imágenes y mapas de las especies presentes en el país.

Taxonomic notes, distribution, and conservation status of two species of Asteraceae firstly recorded for Colombia

As a result of herbarium studies and field work carried out by the signing authors, two Asteraceae species are recorded for the first time in Colombia, i.e., Floscaldasia azorelloides Sklenár & H.Rob. (tribe Astereae) and Senecio subinvolucratus Cuatrec. (tribe Senecioneae). Taxonomic notes, pictures, conservation status, and distribution maps are provided for both species.

Two new records in Orchidaceae (Vanillinae) from southernmost Colombian Amazonia: Vanilla javieri, a new species, and Vanilla appendiculata

This paper deals with two new records for the genus Vanilla in the Colombian Amazonia. Both species are part of the Vanilla planifolia group and exhibit fleshy leaves with conspicuous petioles, greenish flowers with concave lips, a well-defined penicillate callus and recurved lip apices with small papillae. The new species, Vanilla javieri, is easily distinguished by its habit as a small understory hemiepiphyte vine with terminal inflorescences exhibiting a basal, non-floriferous, sub-cordate foliaceous bract; small greenish cream-colored flowers with a glabrous ventral surface of the column and a strongly reflexed lip apex adorned by few digitiform papillae; along with highly aromatic fruits that are pendant, basally arcuate, rather stout and obscurely calyculate. The new species is sympatric and closely related to Vanilla appendiculata, reported here for the first time in Colombia. Botanical descriptions and photographs are presented for both species.

First report of Zethus schadei (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) as natural enemy of Hypsipyla grandella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from Colombia

Se reporta por primera vez para Colombia a Zethus schadei Bohart & Stange, y como enemigo natural de Hypsipyla grandella. Los especímenes fueron obtenidos de brotes terminales de Cedrela odorata L. (Meliaceae) en una plantación del municipio de San Roque, Antioquia, Colombia.

First record of Culex (Culex) bidens (Diptera: Culicidae) in Colombia: Taxonomic and epidemiological implications

Arbovirus transmission cycles must be studied locally since both vectors and hosts vary in different regions. Colombia has a highly diverse mosquito fauna. Culex (Culex) bidens is reported here for the first time in Colombia. Because Cx. bidens Dyar and Knab and Cx. declarator Dyar and Knab share a close taxonomic history and because it is difficult to differentiate between them, a morphological and molecular comparison was performed. The male genitalia of three specimens of Cx. bidens from Colombia were mounted on microscope slides and morphologically compared with the male genitalia of Cx. declarator also from Colombia. In Cx. bidens, the individual teeth of the lateral plate are long, straight, laterally directed and sharply pointed; in Cx. declarator these teeth are robust, curved, with convex margins and bluntly rounded. Moreover, DNA was extracted from the same specimens and a fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene was amplified and sequenced. Neither Cx. bidens nor Cx. declarator were clustered in the Neighbour-joining topology, with K2P interspecific divergence between 0.15–1.45%. The circulation of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus in Colombia was reported since 1957 and Cx. bidens was suspected to be the vector of this virus during an epizootic in Argentina in 1988. Hybridization between species of the subgenus Culex has been demonstrated, hence the degree of reproductive isolation between Cx. bidens and Cx. declarator should be investigated, as well as their taxonomic status, because they only can be discriminated by a single male genitalic feature and not by nuclear or mitochondrial markers.

<b>New records of termites (Blattodea: Termitidae: Syntermitinae) from Colombia</b>

Eight species of termite from the Amazon and Orinoquia regions, belonging to four genera of the subfamily Syntermitinae, are recorded for the first time in Colombia. The species are Cornitermes cumulans (Kollar, 1832), Cornitermes pilosus Holmgren, 1906, Cornitermes ovatus Emerson, 1952, Cornitermes snyderi Emerson, 1952, Mapinguaritermes peruanus (Holmgren, 1906), Rhynchotermes amazonensis Constantini & Cancello, 2016, Rhynchotermes perarmatus (Snyder, 1925), and Uncitermes teevani (Emerson, 1925). Diagnostic characteristics and geographic distributions for the recorded species are provided, with detailed photographs of the soldier caste. The diversity and distribution of indigenous termite species in Colombia are documented.

Insectos escama (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) en raíces de café de Norte de Santander y Valle del Cauca, Colombia y descripción de una nueva especie

Actualmente los insectos escama hipogeos (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) son el segundo artrópodo plaga más importante de la caficultura colombiana. Para desarrollar planes de manejo integrado de este problema fitosanitario se hace necesario reconocer las especies que están asociadas al cultivo. En esta investigación se analizaron 768 especímenes de 85 muestras recolectadas en raíces de café en Norte de Santander y Valle del Cauca. Se identificaron 10 géneros reunidos en cuatro familias. Puto barberi, Toumeyella coffeae y Dysmicoccus varius fueron las especies más recurrentes. Se registra a Dysmicoccus mackenziei, Dysmicoccus radicis y Mixorthezia minima por primera vez para Colombia y a Coffea arabica como nuevo hospedante de Phenacoccus solani y se describe una nueva especie del género Pseudorhizoecus.

First records of Lithobius (Lithobius) forficatus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Lithobius (Lithobius) obscurus Meinert, 1872 (Lithobiomorpha, Lithobiidae) introduced to Colombia

The lithobiomorph centipedes Lithobius (Lithobius) forficatus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Lithobius (Lithobius) obscurus Meinert, 1872 are here reported for the first time in Colombia. We examined 193 individuals from collections kept in several universities and natural history museums from Bogotá city were examined. Lithobius forficatus (191 specimens) was recorded up to 2746 m above sea level in areas with some amount of anthropic disturbance. Lithobius obscurus (2 specimens) was recorded at 2700 m above sea level in a rural area near Sogamoso, Boyacá. We note morphological variation and habitats for both species. These are the first records of introduced centipedes belonging to the genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 in Colombia.

Nuevos registros de pseudoescorpiones (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) de Colombia

Pseudoscorpions are small, abundant and diverse arachnids in the Neotropics. In the Colombian Caribbean region, research on the fauna of these arachnids is scarce compared to that of other regions of Colombia. From February 2016 to October 2017, specimens belonging to this group were collected in the department of Sucre, in order to assess its local diversity. The genera Cacodemonius Chamberlin and Dolichowithius Chamberlin, and the species Tyrannochthonius (Tyrannochthonius) amazonicus Mahnert and Ideobisium chapmani Muchmore are reported for the first time in Colombia. Additionally, ecological comments are included and a check-list of species for Colombia is presented

A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of corporate bankruptcy prediction models based on financial ratios: Evidence from Colombia

Logit and discriminant analyses have been used for corporate bankruptcy prediction in several studies since the last century. In recent years there have been dozens of studies comparing the several models available, including the ones mentioned above and also probit, artificial neural networks, support vector machines, among others. For the first time for Colombia, this paper presents a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of several models predicting corporate bankruptcy. Such models have previously been mostly used in relation to European and North American markets, whereas here they are applied to the financial ratios of three firms located in Colombia. The main objective is to corroborate the validity of these models in terms of their ability to predict firm failure in the Latin American context, specifically for two bankrupt Colombian firms and one healthy one. The analysis is conducted using bankruptcy forecasting models widely proposed in the literature and used systematically in developed countries: the multiple discriminant analysis Z-Altman model, Korol’s two-function model and Prusak’s P2 model. In addition, the logit and decision tree models developed by T. Korol are tested.

Leptodactylus validus Garman, 1888 in Colombia: its distribution and identification.

Leptodactylus validus is reported for the first time for Colombia, corresponding to the tenth species of the L. melanonotus species group occurring in the country. In collections, all L. validus specimens were identified as L. colombiensis. Morphological, coloration, and ecological characters are provided to differentiate the two species in Colombia. Furthermore, the distribution of L. validus is expanded based on the examination of specimens in both collections and literature records. In addition, the advertisement call of L. validus from Colombia is compared with those reported for other continental and insular populations; the calls are slightly more similar to those of insular populations.

Two new species of the family Philogeniidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) from the Western Colombian Andes

The family Philogeniidae was recently proposed as a monophyletic clade grouping the genera Philogenia and Archaeopodagrion. Here, two new species found during recent expeditions to the Western Colombian Andes are described, Archaeopodagrion fernandoi sp. nov. and Philogenia martae sp. nov. Also, Philogenia zeteki is recorded for the first time in Colombia. Natural history notes, a taxonomic key for Archaeopodagrion, a distributional map, illustrations, photographs, and notes on the morphology of Philogeniidae are provided.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:965D2249-2C16-459B-83B5-2C7786ECBFC0 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:15C91068-1199-48FF-8729-D90C465AEE3A

New records of Rhagoletis (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Colombia, with discussion on the morphological variations of some species.

Rhagoletis jamaicensis Foote, 1981 and an undetermined species of the psalida group, are recorded for the first time in Colombia. The morphological variations of the Colombian specimens of these species and of other species closely related are discussed.

Molecular characterization of Marek's disease virus in a poultry layer farm from Colombia

Marek's disease (MD) is a lymphoproliferative disease caused by an Alphaherpesvirus, genus Mardivirus, serotype 1 (Gallid Herpesvirus 2, GaHV-2) that includes all known pathogenic strains. In addition to Marek's disease virus (MDV) serotype 1, the genus includes 2 distinct nonpathogenic serotypes: serotype 2 (GaHV-3) and serotype 3 (Meleagridis Herpesvirus 1, MeHV-1) which are used in commercially available vaccines against MD. As a result of vaccination, clinical signs are not commonly observed, and new cases are usually associated with emerging variant strains against which the vaccines are less effective. In this study, a commercial layer farm showing clinical signs compatible with MDV infection was evaluated. Histological lesions and positive immunohistochemistry in the sciatic nerve and thymus were compatible with cytolytic phase of MD. GaHV-2, GaHV-3 and MeHV-1 were identified by PCR and qPCR in blood samples from 17 birds with suspected MD. Analysis of the Meq gene of the Colombian GaHV-2 isolate revealed a 99% sequence identity with Asian strains, and in the phylogenetic analysis clustered with vv+ MDV. The analysis of amino acid alignments demonstrated an interruption of the proline rich region in P176A, P217A and P233L positions, which are generally associated with vv+ strains. Some of these changes, such as P233L and L258S positions have not been reported previously. In addition, primary cell cultures inoculated with lymphocytes isolated from the spleen showed typical cytopathic effect of GaHV-2 at 5 d post infection. Based on the molecular analysis, the results from this study indicate the presence of vv+ MDV infection in commercial birds for the first time in Colombia. It is recommended to perform further assays in order to demonstrate the pathotype characteristics in vivo.

Identification and pathogenicity of microorganisms affecting purple passion fruit in Colombia

ABSTRACT Purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis f. edulis Sims, known in Colombia as “gulupa”) is an increasingly important crop in Colombia, as seen by an increase in the area under cultivation. This recent prominence coincides with a low number of existing technologies related to the cultivation of the fruit, resulting in a lack of knowledge about its associated pathogens and the absence of rapid and precise diagnostic tests. The objective of this study was to determine the pathogenicity of distinct microorganisms isolated from purple passion fruit samples, some of which had not been previously reported in Colombia. The sampling was performed in seven plots located in two regions of the Colombian Antioquia. With the use of field symptomatology, the isolation of microorganisms, morphological characteristics, molecular analysis, and pathogenicity tests, the pathogen species Phytophthora nicotianae var. parasitica, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides sensu lato, and Phytophthora drechsleri were identified for the first time in Colombia. These pathogens cause lesions in fruits, with an incidence of 10.9, 7.6, and 2.8%, respectively. This is also the first report on a global level of Phytophthora drechsleri causing a disease in this plant species.