Exploring Phylogenetic Relationships of the Mecocephala Group (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Using Continuous and Discrete Characters, with Notes on Taxonomy.

The Mecocephala group comprises about 50 species, restricted to the Neotropics and with the highest species richness in Neotropical South America. Several species use rice as host plants and their identification is facilitated by the presence of exaggerated head proportions and a unique male genitalic morphology. The taxonomy of the group has been extensively explored, but inferring its monophyly and especially its internal phylogenetic relationships has been challenging.

Diversity of stink bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea) in the Brazilian Pampa and the Parque Estadual de Itapuã, Rio Grande do Sul.

Biological surveys represent important contributions to the knowledge of species diversity, conservation, taxonomy, and biogeography. Few surveys of stink bugs and allied groups (Pentatomoidea) were produced in Brazil, especially regarding the Brazilian Pampa, an overlooked biome. Here, a list of Pentatomoidea species of the Brazilian Pampa is presented for the first time, composed of seven families and 152 species.

New species and new distributional records of Elanela Rolston, 1980 (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae).

Two new species are described, Elanela colombiana sp. nov. from Colombia, with disk of scutellum callused, ivory and abdominal sternite VIII immaculate medially, and Elanela ecuatoriana sp.

Elanela Rolston revisited (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae): new distributional records and description of new species.

Menidini is highly diverse in the Paleartic and Afrotropical regions. Only two genera, Rio Kirkaldy and Elanela Rolston, are currently known from the Neotropical region. Here we describe five new species of Elanela: E.

Larvicidal Activity against Aedes aegypti and Molluscicidal Activity against Biomphalaria glabrata of Brazilian Marine Algae.

This study investigated the biological activities of five benthic marine algae collected from Northeastern Region of Brazil. The tested activities included larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti, molluscicidal activity against Biomphalaria glabrata, and toxicity against Artemia salina. Extracts of Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta), Padina gymnospora, Sargassum vulgare (Phaeophyta), Hypnea musciformis, and Digenea simplex (Rhodophyta) were prepared using different solvents of increasing polarity, including dichloromethane, methanol, ethanol, and water.

Antifungal activities of different extracts of marine macroalgae against dermatophytes and Candida species.

Algae are bioactive natural resources, and due to the medical importance of superficial mycoses, we focused the action of macroalgae extracts against dermatophytes and Candida species. Seaweed obtained from the Riacho Doce beach, Alagoas (Brazil), were screened for the antifungal activity, through crude extracts using dichloromethane, chloroform, methanol, ethanol, water and chloroform and hexane fractions of green, brown and red algae in assays with standard strains of the dermatophytes Trichophyton rubrum, T. tonsurans, T.