Behaviour, feeding and cytogenetic features of the wingless blood-sucking ectoparasite Cyanolicimex patagonicus (Heteroptera: Cimicidae).

Cyanolicimex (Haematosiphoninae) includes a single species, C. patagonicus, which is found in the largest known colony of its avian host Cyanoliseus patagonus (Psittacidae) located in Patagonia (Argentina). Relationships between Cyanolicimex and other genera of Haematosiphoninae are still unclear because this genus shares some characters with other South American genera and possesses some similarities with Hesperocimex from the Neoarctic region.

Bedbugs Evolved before Their Bat Hosts and Did Not Co-speciate with Ancient Humans.

All 100+ bedbug species (Cimicidae) are obligate blood-sucking parasites [1, 2]. In general, blood sucking (hematophagy) is thought to have evolved in generalist feeders adventitiously taking blood meals [3, 4], but those cimicid taxa currently considered ancestral are putative host specialists [1, 5]. Bats are believed to be the ancestral hosts of cimicids [1], but a cimicid fossil [6] predates the oldest known bat fossil [7] by >30 million years (Ma).

The family Passandridae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) in Argentina with comments on species from Brazil and Paraguay.

The family Passandridae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) in Argentina and adjacent countries is reviewed. A total of 13 species are recorded from Argentina: Catogenus asper Ślipiński, 1989, Catogenus castaneus (Perty, 1834), Catogenus cylindricollis (Lacordaire, 1854), Catogenus decoratus Newman, 1839, Catogenus depressus Ślipiński, 1989, Catogenus gracilicornis Ślipiński, 1989, Catogenus lebasi Guérin-Méneville, 1844, Catogenus longicornis Grouvelle, 1874, Passandra fasciata Gray in Griffin, 1832, Taphroscelidia humeralis (Grouvelle, 1916), Taphroscelidia semicastanea (Reitter, 1876), and Taphroscelidia sp. (probably a new species, not described here).

Seasonality and Temperature-Dependent Flight Dispersal of Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and Other Vectors of Chagas Disease in Western Argentina.

Flight dispersal of Triatominae is affected by climatic conditions and determines the spatiotemporal patterns of house invasion and transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). We investigated the detailed time structure and temperature dependencies of flight occurrence of Triatoma infestans Klug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and other triatomine species in a rural village of western Argentina by taking advantage of the attraction of adult triatomines to artificial light sources. Most of the village's streetlight posts were systematically inspected for triatomines twice between sunset and midnight over 425 nights in the spring-summer seasons of 1999-2002, an unprecedented light-trap sampling effort for any triatomine species.

The family Cavognathidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) in Argentina and adjacent countries.

The family Cavognathidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) in Argentina is represented by three species of the genus Taphropiestes Reitter, 1875: T. fusca Reitter, 1875 [Chubut], T. magna Ślipiński & Tomaszewska, 2010 [Río Negro; Chubut], and T.

The species of Botanochara Dejean, 1836 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) from Argentina: an identification key, new host plant records and list of Cassidinae found in birds' nests and other protected places.

The genus Botanochara Dejean, 1836 comprises 43 species distributed in the Neotropical Region, among which 26 (57%) are known from Argentina. Botanochara praefica (Spaeth, 1940) is synonymized with B. macularia (Boheman, 1850).

Insects found in birds' nests from Argentina: Coryphistera alaudina Burmeister, 1860 (Aves: Furnariidae), their inquiline birds and mammals, new hosts for Psammolestes coreodes Bergroth, 1911 and Triatoma platensis Neiva, 1913 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae).

The insect fauna in nests of Coryphistera alaudina Burmeister, 1860 (Aves: Furnariidae) were studied in the provinces of Santiago del Estero, Chaco, Córdoba, and La Pampa in Argentina. A total of 7364 insect specimens comprising 77 taxa in a total of 29 families and 7 orders was found in their nests: 40 identified to species, 23 identified to genus, and 14 identified to family. Coryphistera alaudina and some of their vertebrate inquilines are new host records for the triatomine bugs Psammolestes coreodes Bergroth, 1911 and/or Triatoma platensis Neiva, 1913 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae).

A review of the natural history of adult Cetoniinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Argentina and adjacent countries.

A compilation of the known natural history of adult Cetoniinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Argentina and adjacent countries is provided. Food items of adult Cetoniinae include pollen and/or nectar (flower visitors), sap and/or slime flux, ripened fruits on plants, green tissues and leaves, and honey. Of the 36 species of Cetoniinae from Argentina, food items are known only for 11 species (30.

New family host and records of Acanthocrios furnarii (Cordero & Vogelsang, 1928) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) from Argentina, and implications in the transmission mechanism of cimicid bugs among birds' nests.

Acanthocrios furnarii (Cordero & Vogelsang, 1928) [Hemiptera: Cimicidae: Haematosiphoninae] is an ectoparasite on avian hosts from Argentina and Uruguay. It has been mostly found in mud nests of Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) [Aves: Furnariidae], but its true hosts are some of the inquiline birds that use F. rufus nests.

A review of the Cetoniinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Argentina and adjacent countries: systematics and geographic distributions.

A total of 30 species of Gymnetini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) are known from Argentina: Allorhina corni-frons (Gory & Percheron, 1833); Blaesia atra Burmeister, 1842; Blaesia subrugosa Moser, 1905; Desicasta purpurascens Schoch, 1898, dubious record; Gymnetis bajula (Olivier, 1789); Gymnetis bonplandi Schaum, 1844, new country record; Gymnetis bouvieri Bourgoin, 1912; Gymnetis bruchi Moser, 1910, new status (= Aemilius wagneri Le Moult, 1939, new synonymy); Gymnetis carbo (Schürhoff, 1937); Gymnetis chalcipes Gory & Percheron, 1833; Gymnetis cordobana (Schürhoff, 1937), new status; Gymnetis flavomarginata Blanchard, 1847; Gymnetis goryi Janson, 1877, new status; Gym-netis hebraica (Drapiez, 1820), new country record; Gymnetis hepatica Di Iorio, new species; Gymnetis litigiosa Gory & Percheron, 1833, new status; Gymnetis pantherina Blanchard, 1842 (= Gymnetis meleagris Burmeister, 1842, = Paragym-netis rubrocincta Schürhoff, 1937, new synonymy), new country record; Gymnetis pudibunda Burmeister, 1866; Gymne-tis schistacea Burmeister, 1847, new status; Gymnetis undata (Olivier, 1789); Heterocotinis semiopaca (Moser, 1907); Hologymnetis sp. (= Gymnetis rubida, not Gory & Percheron, 1833); Hoplopyga albiventris (Gory & Percheron, 1833); Hoplopyga brasiliensis (Gory & Percheron, 1833); Hoplopyga liturata (Olivier, 1789); Hoplopygothrix atropurpurea (Schaum, 1841), new country record; Marmarina insculpta (Kirby, 1819), new status, new country record; Marmarina tigrina (Gory & Percheron, 1833), (= Maculinetis litorea Schürhoff, 1937, new synonymy); Neocorvicoana reticulata (Kirby, 1819); Neocorvicoana tricolor (Schürhoff, 1933). Marmarina argentina Moser, 1917 is considered a nomen du-bium until a redescription and illustration of the type specimen facilitates the proper identification of this species.

Asthenes dorbignyi (Passeriformes: Furnariidae) host of Argas neghmei (Acari: Argasidae).

Argas neghmei Kohls & Hoogstraal is a Neotropical tick species parasite of poultry and man in the arid western of the southern cone of America in Argentina and Chile. Males, females and nymphs of an argasid were collected from 20 to 22 of June, 2007 in nests of Creamy-breasted Canastero, Asthenes dorbignyi (Reinchenbach) (Passeriformes: Furnariidae) at about 7 km S of La Poma (24 degrees 46'S, 66 degrees 12'W) and a male tick at 24 degrees 48'S, 66 degrees 10'W on Nov 27, 2008, Salta province, Argentina. Scanning electron microscope micrographies and sequences of 16S rDNA confirmed that the ticks found were A.