Instituto Nacional De Pesquisas Da Amazonia Research Articles

Catalogue of type specimens of invertebrates in the collection of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil. II. Hexapoda: Collembola, Diplura, Archaeognatha, Ephemeroptera and Blattaria

A catalogue of type specimens of Collembola, Diplura, Archaeognatha, Ephemeroptera, and Blattaria deposited in the Invertebrate Collection of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil, is presented and updated to June, 2007. It contains a total of 22 holotypes and 18 lots of paratypes of 22 species of Collembola; one holotype and one paratype of one species of Diplura; four holotypes and four paratypes of four species of Archaeognatha; 10 holotypes and thirteen lots of paratypes of 11 species of Ephemeroptera; and one holotype and two lots of paratypes of one species of Blattaria. Specific names are listed alphabetically within family, followed by bibliographical citation, original genus name, status of type, collection number and locality data.

Age estimation in giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) (Carnivora: Mustelidae) using growth layer groups in canine teeth

The canines of six giant otters Pteronura brasiliensis (5 males and 1 female) from the zoological collection of the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) were analyzed for age estimation. Of these, two were from known-age individuals of 2 and 5 years. Ages were read counting the Growth Layer Groups (GLGs) observed in thin sections (30μm) of decalcified teeth. GLGs were present in the dentine but were not conspicuous; age estimates were only reliable when counted in the cementum. Periodicity of GLGs and age estimates were calibrated with the known-age individuals. Results revealed an annual deposition pattern of GLGs in the cementum of giant otter canines, and no apparent differences were found in the GLG patterns observed between males and females, or between captive and free-ranging individuals. The youngest and oldest giant otters analyzed were 2 and 20 years old, respectively. These results suggest that the longevity of captive giant otters is around 20 years. The age determination technique applied here proved to be useful for age estimation in giant otters and can contribute as a powerful tool for future studies on the population dynamics of P. brasiliensis , which is currently classified as endangered.

Chaves de identificação para famílias e gêneros de gerromorpha e nepomorpha (Insecta: Heteroptera) na Amazônia central

Few studies have been done in Brazil on aquatic and semi-aquatic Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha (Heteroptera), Minas Gerais being the state where these insects have been studied the most. The present study presents keys for identification of Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha adults, thus providing a tool for ecological studies on aquatic insects in Central Amazonia. The specimens used to elaborate the taxonomic keys were collected in Presidente Figueiredo county in streams and artificial lakes and in Manaus county in streams, white-water floodplain (várzea) lakes and Rio Negro black-water flooded forest (igapó). Specimens from the invertebrate collection of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA) were also examined and included in the keys. Thirty one genera from 13 families of the infra-orders mentioned.

Morfologia Floral de uma População de Tucumã, Astrocaryum aculeatum Meyer (Arecaceae) na Amazônia Central

Foi realizada a descrição morfológica das inflorescências, bem como das flores pistiladas e estaminadas, de uma população de Astrocaryum aculeatum Meyer, no Campus do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA. A inflorescência é do tipo panícula de espigas, pedunculada, interfoliar e apresenta tamanho médio de 146 ± 20,3 cm. Uma bráctea lenhosa provida de espinhos em toda superfície externa protege a inflorescência. Estas apresentam cerca de 375 ± 49,5 ráquilas. Foi estimado de 500 a 1.200 flores pistiladas e 190.000 a 260.000 flores estaminadas por inflorescência. As flores estaminadas apresentam um padrão de cores que variam do vinho ao creme e também com tons mesclados de vinho e creme.

Catalogue of type specimens of invertebrates in the collection of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil: I. Acanthocephala, Nematoda, and Rotifera

The catalogue of type specimens of the phyla Acanthocephala, Nematoda and Rotifera deposited in the Invertebrate Collection of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil, is presented and updated to July, 2005. A total of three holotypes and six lots of paratypes of three species of Acanthocephala; nine holotypes and 16 lots of paratypes of nine species of Nematoda; and 12 holotypes, six lectotypes, nine lots of paratypes and five lots of paralectotypes of 23 species and subspecies of Rotifera are listed. Specific and subspecific names are listed alphabetically within family, followed by bibliographic citation, original genus name, status of type, collection number, locality data (host and site of infection for parasitic species), and remarks where appropriate. A list of references containing the papers in which the taxa were first described is furnished.

Vertical stratification of phlebotomine sandfly fauna (Diptera, Psychodidae) in a primary non-flooded forest of the Central Amazon, Amazonas State, Brazil

Studies on the vertical stratification of phlebotomine sandfly fauna were conducted in a non-flooded primary forest at a Tropical Forest Experimental Station of the National Institute of Amazonian Research from October 1998 to March 1999. CDC light traps were placed at one, 10, and 20 meters above ground. A total of 2,859 sandflies were captured, belonging to the Lutzomyia (99.93%) and Brumtomyia (0.07%) genera, represented by 38 species. In the Lutzomyia gender, the most frequent sub-gender was Nyssomyia (43.4%), followed by Psychodopygus (22.8%). Lutzomyia umbratilis, L. anduzei, L. rorotaensis, L. trichopyga, and L. olmeca nociva predominated at one meter above ground, while L. davisi, L. infraspinosa, L. umbratilis, L. trichopyga, and L. anduzei predominated at 10 meters. L. anduzei, L. tuberculata, L. dendrophyla, and L. dreisbachi were the most abundant species at 20 meters. L. umbratilis, which appeared at all three levels of vertical stratification, has great epidemic significance as a vector of Leishmania (Viannia) guyanensis.

Food Habits of the Silky Anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) in the Central Amazon

The silky anteater ranges widely throughout Central and South America, yet it has been little studied due to the difficulty of locating it. The smallest of the anteaters, it is nocturnal and arboreal (Sunquist and Montgomery, 1973; Montgomery, 1979; Wetzel, 1982) and is reported to feed on ants, termites, and coccinellid beetles (Beebe, 1918; Montgomery, in press; Vesey-Fitzgerald, 1936). We analyzed four fecal samples from four Cyclopes that were brought by locals to our laboratory at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA), in Manaus, Brazil. As Cyclopes are reported to defecate approximately once daily (Merritt, 1971), such samples should be representative of the previous night's foraging. Fecal samples were preserved dry and then washed in 70% alcohol to simplify the sorting process. For each sample, heads of arthropods were separated from other body parts using a dissecting microscope, and grouped into morpho-species based on size and shape characters. A simple size-index was used (head length + width) to give a physical dimension to the numerical frequency data. Similar techniques have been used in other studies of insectivore food habits (e.g., Calver and Wooler, 1982). The feces contained almost no intact arthropods, but large quantities of legs, heads, antennae and other parts of exoskeletons were present. As these parts showed no degradation by digestive processes, we assume that Cyclopes does not possess either chitinase or chitobiase, digestive enzymes known from bats (Jeuniaux, 1961). Total counts of insects per fecal sample ranged from 95 to 7,743 and, with the exception of 6 coleopterans in one sample, all the arthropods found were hymenopterans, primarily ants (Formicidae). We were able to separate the ants into 79 morpho-species and 9 genera (Table 1). Due to the complex taxonomy of some of these genera, it was impossible to determine species and many of these morpho-species may represent various castes (i.e., worker, soldier, etc.) of a single species of ant. Four genera accounted for 95.5% of the 10,514 ants in the combined samples. These were Crematogaster (72.3%), Zacryptocerus (11.2%), Pseudomyrmex (7.2%), and Camponotus (4.2%). Other genera such as Solenopsis, Pheidole, Procryptocerus, etc. accounted for only a small part of the sample (total = 2.0%), as did unidentified Hymenoptera (2.6%) and Coleoptera (0.1%). These results are very similar to those of Montgomery (in press) who found that Cyclopes in Panama fed primarily on the genera Crematogaster, Solenopsis, and Pseudomyrmex. When expressed in terms of our size-index, the same pattern persists. However, the relative importance of Zacryptocerus was higher (38.7% versus 11.7%) due to the large size of this genus. Metabolic rates of Cyclopes have been measured (McNab, 1982) and are low in comparison with the mammalian metabolic standard. Assuming a single daily defecation, our animals ate 100 to 8,000 ants per

Is Nesting Success of Birds Low in the Tropics?

Mortality rates of bird nests near the Brazilian equatorial localities of Belem and Manaus were between 1.5 and 4.5 percent per day for different types of nests and habitats, except for 6.8 percent per day in cup-shaped nests in zones at Belem. Only the last percentage is as high as rates commonly found by earlier workers in neotropical areas further from the equator. As in previous studies, cup nests were less successful than enclosed nests, but, in contrast, nests were as successful as or more successful than open-area nests. Further data are needed to verify the ideas that nest mortality rates near the equator and in tropical forests are higher than in areas, subequatorial zones, or temperate zones. Earlier work was mostly in isolated habitats in which large predators no longer occurred, and thus could not limit nest-robbing small predators; such habitats could be abnormal, as are habitats near houses. NEST SUCCESS IN BIRDS is generally said to be lower in the tropics than in temperate zones (Ricklefs 1969; Skutch 1966; Snow and Snow 1964; and Willis 1961, 1974). These examples of low success have been used to explain why tropical birds have low clutch sizes (Skutch 1967, Foster 1974), and even formed part of the basis for general ecological theories that cycling is faster in the tropics (Connell and Orias 1964). However, the cited studies of nest success are from Central America and Trinidad, from 9? to 170 north of the equator. Studies of Marchant (1960, 1961) in dry regions of western Ecuador indicate moderate nest mortalities; but these data are not comparable with studies from forested habitats. Fogden (1972) found high nest mortalities in equatorial forests of Sarawak, but Sarawak is on an island of lowered species diversity more comparable to subequatorial Trinidad than to the Amazon. There are many studies of bird nests in the equatorial forests of the Amazon (Carvalho 1957a, b, c, d, 1958a, b, c, 1960a, b, 1962, 1963; Novaes and Carvalho 1957; Oniki 1970; Snethlage 1935a, b), but studies of nest success are limited to scattered examples in these studies. Snethlage, without giving quantitative data, suggests that nest success is fairly high in the lower Amazon. Koepcke (1972) indicated that birds in eastern Peru have many adaptations against predation, but did not present data on nest success. The question is, do equatorial birds have low nest success despite their adaptations against predators? Studies of adaptations of nests and eggs against predation will be considered in a separate paper. Here data are presented on mortality rates for two equatorial Brazilian areas. STUDY AREAS At Belem (1? 28' S, 48? 27' W, altitude 13 m) nests were studied mainly in the Area de Pesquisas Ecolgicas do Guama (APEG) of the Instituto de Pesquisas Agropecuarias do ,Norte (IPEAN). The most characteristic habitats of APEG are upland forest, second growth, igapo or swamp, and v'arzea or tidally flooded (Pires, Dobzhansky and Black 1953; Novaes 1970; Oniki 1972). These types of forests form an irregular patchwork at the eastern end df IPEAN. Other areas studied at IPEAN included several types of man-modified habitats, including roadsides and yards of houses. In the present study, two areas were especially important for nests: Serraria, an area of experimental plantations of rubber trees, where there were half-burned logs overgrown with the leguminous vine Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb.) Benth.; and Pupunhal, a plantation of spiny pupunha palms, Guilielma gasipaes ( H. B. K.) Bailey. At Manaus, nests were studied in two areas: in the Reserva Florestal Ducke, of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA) and at Sitio I-iru,anga, across the highway from the Reserva entrance at 2? 55' S, 590 59' W. Reserva Ducke (60-120 m elevation) is an extensive upland bordered by experimental plantations of native and introduced trees, mostly in the shade of tall trees of the original forest. Laboratories are in a clearing next to a small creek, the Igarape do Barro Branco. Sitio I-iruqanga is a private weekend villa, with many fruit trees and palms, bordered on two sides by forest, and set beside the paved Manaus-Itacoatiara road at km 26.3 on the Igarape Mariano. Some nests were studied in mancreated savannas and in plantations or orchards near km 26. Nests in forest, plus a few nests at the 60 BIOTROPICA 11(1): 60-69 1979 This content downloaded from 40.77.167.36 on Fri, 21 Oct 2016 04:37:10 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms edge and in second growth, are considered forest nests; others are nests of open habitats.

Ethnobotanical notes from Amazonian Brazil

During the course of a year of field work in Amazonian Brazil in 1971, I visited four different tribes of Indians in widely separated localities (Fig. 1). While among these tribes, we were able to gather much ethnobotanical information, some of which is presented here. Many of the plants discussed have already been reported in other sources cited, but some of the plant uses given here are recorded for the first time. The principal aim of this study, however, is to provide well documented evidence of these plant uses correlated with herbarium voucher material. The collections cited are deposited in the herbaria of the New York Botanical Garden (NY), the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA), and the Economic Herbarium of the Botanical Museum of Harvard University (ECON). Three of the four tribes visited now live on the fringes of western civilization and show a varying degree of acculturation. Therefore, it is extremely urgent to gather as much ethnobotanical information as possible before it is permanently lost. We made a special effort to collect data from the Indians on their uses of plants.

NCAR scientists conduct Brazilian expedition

Three scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research went to Brazil early in April to study atmospheric trace gases and aerosols in the jungle around the Amazon River. They spent two weeks taking air samples in the Ducke Forest Reserve, a scientific research station in the heart 0f the Amazonian jungle. When analyzed, these samples will help NCAR scientists establish background levels of natural trace gases and aerosols in the tropical atmosphere.The cooperation of the Brazilian government contributed greatly to the success of the entire trip. The Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA) was their Brazilian host, and they allowed them access to a part of Brazil that is being preserved in its natural state.

Malaria parasites of some Brazilian lizards.

From lizards caught in the Codajaz region, Amazonas, Brazil, the following malaria parasites are described:Plasmodium rhadinurum Thompson & Huff, 1944 from Iguana iguana L.A species of Plasmodium from Ameiva ameiva L.A species of Plasmodium from Cnemidophorus lemniscatus (Daudin).I wish to express my thanks to the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (I.N.P.A.) at Manaus for their help in the collection of material; to Professor P. C. C. Garnham, C.M.G., F.R.S., for assistance in identification, and to Mr P. E. Nesbitt for advice on staining procedures. This work was carried out during the tenure of a Medical Research Council Scholarship for Training in Research Methods.