No abstract

O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar a riqueza, abundância e diversidade das espécies de Scarabaeidae em duas itoisionomias (campo e loresta) e veriicar se a variação sazonal ao longo do ano está relacionada com variáveis climáticas. O estudo foi desenvolvido na Reserva Biológica de São Donato, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil (bioma Pampa). As coletas foram realizadas através de armadilhas de queda, entre janeiro de 2012 e janeiro de 2013. Foram coletados 125 indivíduos e identiicados seis gêneros e 11 espécies de quatro subfamílias, sendo 54 indivíduos de cinco espécies encontradas no campo e 71 indivíduos de oito espécies na loresta. As espécies mais abundantes foram Ataenius picinus Harold, 1868, Canthon lividus Blanchard, 1845 e Leucothyreus lavipes Eschscholtz, 1822, que representaram juntas 86,4% do total de indivíduos capturados. O verão apresentou o maior número de indivíduos (78) e a primavera o maior número de espécies (nove). A diferença na estrutura do ambiente (e clima associado) e provavelmente a disponibilidade diferenciada de recurso alimentar entre as duas itoisionomias devem ser fatores limitantes e decisivos para a ocorrência de cada subfamília em determinado habitat, uma vez que várias espécies foram restritas a determinada itoisionomia ou época do ano.

Abstract:The Brazilian scorpion Tityus serrulatus is recorded for the first time in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, thus filling a gap of 567 km in its distribution. A specimen of the scorpion was collected in the urban area of the municipality of Santa Maria (29°43′51.31″ S, 053°48′5.74″ W) on 31 June 2014. A map was generated with the points of occurrence of the species in the state.

Atractus maculatus, classified as Data Deficient by the Brazil's Ministério do Meio Ambiente, is recorded from a sixth known locality. The specimen was collected in the municipality of Paudalho, state of Pernambuco, Brazil. This is the first confirmed record of A. maculatus from this state and extends this species' distribution by 153 km northeast of previously known occurrences. A map shows the occurrences throughout the whole range of this species.

No abstract

Rondonops biscutatus is a Iphisini species known from the southwestern portion of the Brazilian Amazon forest, in the states of Mato Grosso, Pará and Rondônia. In this study, we report the second known locality for the species in Mato Grosso, extending the distribution of the species approximately 545 km.

Rhinella poeppigii, member of the Rhinella marina group, which currently consists of 11 species, inhabits primarily cloud forests in the central Andes of Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, reaching lowlands adjacent to the Andes, at elevations of 260-1800 m. This work presents the first record of R. poeppigii in Brazil, from the municipality of Assis Brasil, in the state of Acre. This record extends the distribution of the species 242 km northeast of the nearest record in Explorer's Inn, Madre de Dios province, Peru.

Studying species interactions in nature often requires elaborated logistics and intense fieldwork. The difficulties in such task might hinder our ability to answer questions on how biotic interactions change with the environment. Fortunately, a workaround to this problem lies within scientific collections. For some animals, the inspection of preserved specimens can reveal the scars of past antagonistic encounters, such as predation attempts. A common defensive behaviour that leaves scars on animals is autotomy, the loss of a body appendage to escape predation. By knowing the collection site of preserved specimens, it is possible to assess the influence of organismal biology and the surrounding environment in the occurrence of autotomy. We gathered data on tail loss for 8189 preserved specimens of 33 snake and 11 amphisbaenian species to investigate biological and environmental correlates of autotomy in reptiles. We applied generalized linear mixed effect models to evaluate whether body size, sex, life‐stage, habitat use, activity pattern, biome, tropicality, temperature and precipitation affect the probability of tail loss in limbless reptiles. We observed autotomy in 23.6% of examined specimens, with 18.7% of amphisbaenian and 33.4% of snake specimens showing tail loss. The probability of tail loss did not differ between snakes and amphisbaenians, but it was higher among large‐sized specimens, particularly in adults and females. Chance of tail loss was higher for diurnal and arboreal species, and among specimens collected in warmer regions, but it was unaffected by biome, precipitation, and tropicality. Autotomy in limbless reptiles was affected by size‐dependent factors that interplay with ontogeny and sexual dimorphism, although size‐independent effects of life‐stage and sex also shaped behavioural responses to predators. The increase in probability of tail loss with verticality and diurnality suggests a risk‐balance mechanism between species habitat use and activity pattern. Although autotomy is more likely in warmer regions, it seems unrelated to seasonal differences in snakes and amphisbaenians activity. Our findings reveal several processes related to predator–prey interactions involving limbless reptiles, demonstrating the importance of scientific collections to unveil ecological mechanisms at different spatio‐temporal scales.