Immune Defense Strategies of Queens of the Social Parasite Ant Acromyrmex ameliae and Queens of Its Natural Hosts.

Social parasitism is well known in ants, but many aspects of this social phenomenon remain mysterious and unexplored. In some cases, parasite queens, who are able to mate very rarely end up producing brood and, thus, depend virtually on the labor of host ants. In this work, we sought to test the occurrence of grooming by host workers of Acromyrmex subterraneus subterraneus Forel, to their own queens and queens of the parasite Acromyrmex ameliae De Souza, Soares and Della Lucia and to compare the immune defense responses of parasite queens and queens of A.

Comments on the Classification of Neotropical Scionini (Tabanidae) with a Description of a New Genus.

The classification of the Tabanidae had remained stable over the last 60 years after Mackerras proposed a great revolution in the arrangement of the family. Recently, some new proposals based on molecular data have once again changed the classification of the family, mainly with a focus on the tribe Scionini. The present paper introduces a critical analysis based on the taxonomical view of the recent proposed classification of Scionini.

A New Species of Dichelacera (Dichelacera) Macquart (Diptera, Tabanidae) from the Brazilian Savannah.

A new species of Dichelacera (Tabanidae, Diptera) is described, based on females from Arraias, state of Tocantins, Brazil. Diagnosis, discussion, and illustrations of external and internal characters are provided. In addition, we provide unpublished photographs of Dichelacera callosa Lutz for comparison.

Plant litter dynamics in the forest-stream interface: precipitation is a major control across tropical biomes.

Riparian plant litter is a major energy source for forested streams across the world and its decomposition has repercussions on nutrient cycling, food webs and ecosystem functioning. However, we know little about plant litter dynamics in tropical streams, even though the tropics occupy 40% of the Earth's land surface. Here we investigated spatial and temporal (along a year cycle) patterns of litter inputs and storage in multiple streams of three tropical biomes in Brazil (Atlantic forest, Amazon forest and Cerrado savanna), predicting major differences among biomes in relation to temperature and precipitation regimes.

Paracrine Signaling in the Prostatic Stroma: A Novel Role for the Telocytes Revealed in Rodents' Ventral Prostate.

The telocytes have recently been described in the prostate gland. In mature gland, they exist in close association with the acini and their telopodes form networks whose functions remain unclear. In this chapter, our group gives a brief introduction to telocytes and explores the history that led to such a concept and then discusses hypotheses and presents new evidences about the roles exerted by telocytes in the prostate.

[Composition, abundance and infestation rate of ant species in a children's hospital in the city of Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil].

This first survey of the ant fauna in a children's hospital in the city of Palmas, state of Tocantins, compares species composition, abundance and infestation rate of ants between rainy and dry seasons, day and night periods, and among 15 hospital sectors. Forty-eight collections, being 12 diurnal and 12 nocturnal in each season using five attractive baits distributed per sector, maintained for 3h per sampling. A total of 34,309 ants were collected, distributed in 12 species: Acromyrmex sp.

[Occurrence and biological characteristics of parasitoid phorids (Diptera: Phoridae) of the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Porto Nacional, TO, Brazil].

The purpose of this study was to verify the occurrence of parasitism in Atta laevigata (Smith) by phorids in Porto Nacional, Tocantins, Brazil and to evaluate some biological characteristics of those flies. From October/2002 to September/2003, at 15-day intervals, 22 samplings were carried out (149.5 +/- 82.

Hosts and parasitoids of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritoidea) in the State of Tocantins, Brazil.

Fruit flies were obtained from 13 species of naturally infested fruits in the central region of Tocantins State, from January to October 2005. A total of 1,753 female flies were collected that belong to 11 species: Anastrepha coronilli Carrejo & González, A. fraterculus (Wied.