Napo Province Research Articles

Philogenia redunca, a New Damselfly from Ecuador (Odonata: Megapodagrionidae)

Philogenia redunca sp. n., a new Ecuadoran megapodagrionid, is described and illustrated from a series of 33 males and 25 females (holotype @?: Yanamanaca, Napo Province; allotype @?: Abitagua, Pastaza Province; both deposited in the Museum of Zoology. Ann Arbor, USA). The male is distinguished by the shape of its anal appendages. The female differs from all presently known species of Philogenia by possessing a pair of lateral horns arising on the proepimeron and directed posteriorly. P. redunca belongs in the cassandra group of species because the male of all six species possess a peculiar meso-ventral flange-like process on the distal halves of their cerci. Within this group redunca is most closely related to buenavista Bick & Bick and schmidti Ris.

New useful and colourfully‐bracted species of Calathea (Marantaceae) from Ecuador

Two new species from Ecuador are described: Calathea utilis and C. roseobracteata. Calathea utilis, known from Napo and Pastaza Provinces, may be introduced near Sardinas, Napo Province, where the leaves are used for thatch. Calathea roseobracteata, known from a single locality near the border of Pinchincha and Los Rios Provinces, is distinguished by its bright pink bracts.

Ecology, Distribution, Harvest, and Conservation of the Amazonian Manatee Trichechus inunguis in Ecuador

Recent summaries of the distribution of the Amazonian manatee Trichechus inunguis record specimens from much of the Central Amazon Basin in Brazil, eastern Peru, and extreme southeastern Colombia, but not Ecuador. During October and November of 1983 we searched for manatees in the Rio Aguarico and Rio Cuyabeno systems of Napo Province, eastern Ecuador. Herein we document the existence of Amazonian manatees in Ecuador, provide rough estimates of their current distribution, describe several aspects of their ecology in Ecuador, document use of manatees by indigenous peoples, and document the current commercial harvest of manatees for meat. Manatees were observed by us at several separate localities in the Amazonian lowlands of eastern Ecuador. Additionally, we report several observations by others as well as a published historical record previously overlooked. Our observations of manatees are from blackwater habitats in undisturbed, primary, lowland rainforest in water with a pH of 5.5 to 6.0 and temperature of 25.0 to 30.7?C. In the upper Cuyabeno region, the Siona Indians, who have harvested manatees for generations, have a self-imposed ban on manatee hunting to protect the few remaining animals in their waters. Settlers, the military, and a commercial meat hunter continue to actively harvest Amazonian manatees in Ecuador and adjacent Peru. Much of the meat obtained is used by either the Ecuadorian or Peruvian military. We found manatees abundant at only one locality, Laguna Lagarto Cocha. However, this population is being actively hunted, and the meat sold to the local military outposts. We estimate that if the current level of harvest continues unabated, Amazonian manatees will be gone from Ecuador within 10-15 years.

The invertebrate faunas of tropical American caves, Part 6: Jumandi Cave, Ecuador

Twenty-two species of invertebrates are reported from Jumandi Cave, Napo Province, Ecuador. Three are probably trogloxenes, and the other 19 are troglophiles. The only troglobite is the catfish Astroblepus pholeter.

A New, Strikingly Patterned Calathea (Marantaceae) from Ecuador

Calathea libbyana from Napo Province, Ecuador, is described. It belongs to the dimorphic-bracted species-group ofCalathea seriesComosae. It is in cultivation under the cultivar name ‘Windows’, which refers to its distinctive leaf pattern with pale, semi-translucent markings.

South American micropterigid moths: two new genera of the Sabatinca-group (Lepidoptera: Micropterigidae)

AbstractThe basic divisions of the family Micropterigidae are discussed. Hypomartyria micropteroides n.gen., n.sp. from Osorno province, Chile, and Squamicornia aequatoriella n.gen., n.sp. from Napo province, Ecuador, are described; they are the first genuine micropterigids recorded from South America. The new taxa are assigned to the Sabatinca-group of genera, and their cladistic relations within the group are tentatively assessed. Hypomartyria appears to be derived from an ancestor closely similar to that of the entire group. Squamicornia exhibits some possible synapomorphies with Old World southern hemisphere taxa. There is no evidence that the two South American genera are each other's closest relatives.

Ophiotaenia olseni sp. n. (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae) from Hyla geographica Spix 1824 in Ecuador

Ophiotaenia olseni sp. n., described from Hyla geographica Spix 1824 in Ecuador, has two lateral fields of testes and a genital pore which opens at about the middle of the segment. It differs from 0. hylae Johnston 1912 in the absence of an apical organ on the scolex, in having 59 to 76 and 67 to 84 testes in the poral and aporal fields, respectively, a cirrus pouch greater than one-fifth the width of the proglottid, and vitellaria which terminate anterior to the ovarian lobes. A review of the literature reveals that extensive surveys of amphibian helminths usually reflect few cestodes. Of 16 species of frogs collected by the junior author at Santa Cecilia, Napo Province, Ecuador from 1973 to 1974, only a single adult female Hyla geographica Spix 1824 was found to harbor tapeworms. Other frogs examined and found negative for cestodes included three Bufo typhonius (Linnaeus 1758), two Dendrobates parvulus Boulenger 1882, two Eleutherodactylus altamazonicus Barbour and Dunn 1921, one E. lanthinites Lynch 1975, three Hamptophryne bolivianus (Parker 1927), one Hyla boans (Linnaeus 1758), two Hyla lanciformis (Cope 1870), two Hyla leucophyllata Beireis 1783, two Hyla marmorata (Laurenti 1768), two Hyla sarayacuensis Shreve 1835, one Ischnocnema quixensis (Jimenez de la Espada 1872), two Leptodactylus mystaceus (Spix 1824), one L. pentadactylus (Laurenti 1768), two Phyllomedusa tarsius (Cope 1868), and one Rana palmipes Spix 1824. This report is based on six specimens of an undescribed ophiotaenid cestode found in the intestine of the infected

Identity of Two Andean Eleutherodactylus with the Description of a New Species (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae)

Field work on the high eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes resulted in the col- lection of specimens of two species of Eleutherodactylus heretofore known only by holotypes from Equator. The species are redescribed based on fresh material and are compared with other Ecua- dorian Eleutherodactylus. Eleutherodactylus devillei is a member of the surdus group, and E. glan- dulosus is a member of the curtipes group. The specimens of E. devillei are all females and in ex- planation of the unbalanced sex ratios observed in this and two other species of Andean leptodac- tylids from Ecuador the hypothesis is advanced that the unbalanced sex ratios may reflect the col- lectors' bias. Eleutherodactylus chloronotus is named on the basis of material collected in the valley of the Rio Papallacta, Napo Province, Ecuador. Breeding was observed in March but not in July. The non- polymorphic species occurs at high elevations (2500-3350 meters) and is related to E. devillei and E. surdus. Young specimens characteristically have a bright green dorsal stripe which fades with an increase in size. * * * Frogs of the genus Eleutherodactylus make up a conspicuous element of the Neotropical fauna. Approximately 300 species are presently recognized, and a large number of South American species probably remain to be described. The most recent synopsis of the genus, Boulenger's (1882) catalogue, included 45 species; in the ensuing 40 years about half of the now recognized species of the genus in northwestern South America were named by Boulenger from Ecuador. Few of these were illustrated and the descriptions were lists of those characters that Boulenger considered im- portant. Many of the nominal species were based on specimens with inexact locality data (e.g., Andes of Ecuador, western Ecuador, or eastern Ecuador); the only descriptive data available are those included by Boulenger in the species diagnoses. Incomplete descriptions, inaccurate locality data, lack of figures, and the diversity of the genus have contributed to the difficulty of identifying frogs of this genus, which are notorious for the subtle species differences available in preserved material. It will ultimately be necessary to redescribe most, if not all, of the species named by Boulenger, if we are to gain an understanding of the composition of the genus. This paper was prompted by the rediscovery of the first two species of the genus named by Boulenger (H. devillei and H. glandulosus) on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Napo Province, Ecuador. Neither species has been collected at elevations above 3000 meters in spite of intensive field work above Papallacta, Napo Province, Ecuador.