Living at high altitudes impose physiological and ecological challenges to which species may respond altering their body size, body proportions, and the shape of their body parts. Despite the importance of this topic for understanding the origin of species diversity, little attention has been invested in this phenomenon at the populational level. This paper study the relationship between altitude and body size, body proportions, and forewing shape venation of two populations of the parasitoid wasp Cotesia flavipes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe historical and geographical properties of the archipelagos allow a detailed study of species diversification, and phenotypic traits can indicate the extent of such processes. Eupelmus pulchriceps (Cameron, 1904) is an exotic species to the Galapagos archipelago, and generalist parasitoid that attacks a beetle species that consumes the seeds of the invasive shrub Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pseudoscorpion family Withiidae is widely distributed around the world, with most of its diversity in tropical areas. Five new species and a new genus from Colombia are described: , , , and the genus with two species and A reassessment of the subgenus Dolichowithius (Oligowithius) Beier, 1936 allows the elevation to a full generic level, and the transfer of the only known species to , forming the new combination (Beier, 1936),
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh mountains are harsh environments in which colder temperatures and higher levels of UV-B radiation are common. These abiotic conditions strongly affect animals' biology, often constraining their survival and reproduction. As a result, adaptations to live in such habitats are expected to evolve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNotiospathius Matthews & Marsh, 1973 is the second most diverse genus of Doryctinae in the Neotropical region, however, in Colombia only two species have been reported and no studies on the diversity of the genus have been conducted. We present a taxonomic synopsis of the genus from Colombia. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) allowed the taxonomic evaluation of morphometric characters used by other authors and those proposed in the present study to differentiate the species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuarpea colombiana sp. nov. from Colombia (Meta) is described and illustrated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExocrine glands are involved in several wasp colony activities; however, the number of known glands in the Vespidae is rather low when compared to other social insect groups. The aim of this study is to survey the head of Neotropical social wasps and to provide a detailed comparative study of the glands found in the Polistinae. A total of 33 species distributed over 13 genera were studied with serial histological sections of the head, excluding the labiomaxillary complex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA comprehensive key for 75 species of Meteorus distributed across 15 Neotropical countries is presented. Eleven new species from Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador are described: Meteorusalbistigma, Meteoruscarolae, Meteoruseurysaccavorus, Meteorusfallacavus, Meteorusflavistigma, Meteorushaimowitzi, Meteorusmagnoculus, Meteorusmartinezi, Meteorusmicrocavus, Meteorusnoctuivorus and Meteorusorion. Expanded range distributions are recorded for Meteorusandreae, Meteorusfarallonensis, Meteorusguineverae, Meteorusjerodi, Meteoruskraussi, Meteoruspapiliovorus and Meteorusquimbayensis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrotrichia are epidermal protuberances that may serve as temporary adhesive devices. Several insects possess these structures; however, they have not previously been reported in social wasps. With scanning electron microscopy, we characterize the shape and abundance of microtrichia in ten species of social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) and three species of related taxa (Vespidae: Eumeninae, Pompilidae, and Scoliidae).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJame's rule proposes a direct relationship between body size and altitude. There are several studies about this rule; however, few studies analyze proportional changes in body parts along gradients. The morphological variation of Agelaia pallipes (Olivier) in five sites along an altitudinal gradient (2600-3380 m) in the Santuario de Iguaque, Colombia, were studied in order to test whether or not the species follows Jame's rule, and whether body parts follow a homogeneous variation.
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