The conservationist community is giving special attention to epigean insects due to their importance in the preservation of terrestrial habitats. This work analysed the diversity, richness, abundance and similarity at the soil surface of Coleoptera composition among five environments: native forest, native grassland, Pinus elliottii plantation, Eucalyptus saligna plantation and degraded area by soil use in southern Brazil, from October 2004 to October 2005. A total of 1,812 individuals were collected, attributed to 45 morph-species and 14 families. The higher richness and abundance were observed in native forest (31 species and 782 individuals) and the lower richness and abundance in degraded area (14 species, 86 individuals). Scarabaeidae was the richest family captured, with nine morph-species, and the most frequent family was Nitidulidae (1,113 individuals). According to the Shannon-Wiener index, the degraded area had smaller diversity in relation to the native forest, E. saligna and Pinus elliottii plantations. No difference in diversity between evaluated areas was found for the Simpson diversity index. The most dominant site was the degraded. The correlation between the total number of morph-species captured was not different to the degraded area and the P. elliottii monoculture (r = 0.47) and the correlation between the total individuals number was not significant between native forest and native grassland (r = 0.46) and between degraded areas and the other sites. According to the Jaccard Similarity Index, the greatest similarity for the organism composition occurred between P. elliottii plantation and E. saligna plantation, presenting 74% of overlap.

This work describes the behavioral repertory of Trichodactylus panoplus von Martens, 1869, based on the animals' diel activity and the possible substrate preference under laboratory experiments. Three experimental replicates were carried out, each using six animals (three males and three females). There were four periods of observation a day, with a total of 864 observation sessions and 144 hours of experiments. A total of 15 behavioral acts divided into five categories were recorded: feeding, exploration of the environment, immobility, social interaction, and self-grooming. The obtained results suggest that T. panoplus has greater activity during the night (p < 0.05), yet without showing an activity peak. In addition, the acceptance of food does not depend on the photoperiod. There was a significant preference for gravel as the chosen substrate. The Morisita index indicates an aggregated distribution of these animals, confirming their preference for substrate with gravel. The increase in activity at night and the preference for substrate with gravel, which can be used to disguise these individuals, would be associated to some anti-predator strategies of these crabs against visually orientated predators

The aim of this contribution was to review the species of Ctenocolum which are mainly distributed in the Neotropical region. The larvae of this genus have a high degree of specificity with the tribe Millettieae feeding mainly on seeds of Lonchocarpus Kunth (Fabaceae, Papilionoideae) and until now we do not know other bruchine consuming seeds of this genus. Here 13 valid species were studied, five new, divided in two groups, as previosly proposed in literature, group podagricus with Ctenocolum aquilus Albuquerque & Ribeiro-Costa sp. nov., C. biolleyi Kingsolver & Whitehead, C. colburni Kingsolver & Whitehead, C. martiale Kingsolver & Whitehead, C. milelo Albuquerque & Ribeiro-Costa sp. nov., C. podagricus (Fabricius), C. punctinotatus Albuquerque & Ribeiro-Costa sp. nov., C. pygospilotos Albuquerque & Ribeiro-Costa sp. nov. and C. triangulatus Albuquerque & Ribeiro-Costa sp. nov.; group tuberculatum with C. acapulcensis Kingsolver & Whitehead, C. janzeni Kingsolver & Whitehead, C. salvini (Sharp) and C. tuberculatum (Motschulsky). A lectotype is designated for Bruchus salvini and Bruchus pictifemur. Moreover, descriptions, redescriptions, diagnoses, key, geographic distribution and host plant records are also included.

Merobruchus Bridwell is placed in the group Merobruchus of Acanthoscelidina (Bruchini) being distinguished from all bruchines mainly by the apical projections in the last abdominal ventrite of females and some males. All 25 species of Merobruchus are distributed in the New World, mainly in the Neotropical Region, feeding on seeds of Mimosoideae (Acacieae, Ingeae and Mimoseae). As well as some other bruchine genera, Merobruchus shows considerable morphological variation both in external and in internal (male genitalia) characters. Moreover, some species are very similar to each other in their colour and distribution pattern of pubescence on the dorsal surface, sometimes making species recognition difficult. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to provide a key including coloured illustrations for Merobruchus species to facilitate the process of identification and to avoid misunderstandings. Images of dorsal habitus, male and female pygidium and male genitalia are provided for all species. In addition, M. machadoi sp. nov. (Holotype male deposited in DZUP: Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul State) is described; M. bicoloripes (Pic) and M. pickeli (Pic) are redescribed; and a new synonymy is proposed: Pseudopachymerus pickeli Pic, 1927 = Pseudopachymerus pickeli var. subnotatus Pic, 1927 syn. nov. Two new host plants are recorded for Bruchinae: Parapiptadenia rigida (Benth.) Brenan (Mimosoideae) and Pterogyne nitens Tul. (Caesalpinioideae).

Gibbobruchus Pic, 1913 belongs to the subtribe Acanthoscelidina, which encompasses ~50% of the subfamily Bruchinae (Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae). These species are distributed in the Americas and are mainly associated with Bauhinia seeds (Fabaceae). The monophyly of Gibbobruchus and its species groups were tested based on 26 adult morphological characters and 15 taxa. Of these taxa, 13 species were recognised including two new species, G. vinicius, sp. nov. and G. bolivianus, sp. nov. Gibbobruchus is monophyletic and supported by seven synapomorphies. The currently proposed composition of species groups is: Group speculifer: G. speculifer, G. ornatus, G. vinicius, Manfio & Ribeiro-Costa, sp. nov.; Group polycoccus: G. polycoccus; Group wunderlini: G. wunderlini; Group scurra: G. cavillator, G. bolivianus, Manfio & Ribeiro-Costa, sp. nov., G. scurra; and Group mimus: G. guanacaste, G. iturbidensis, G. mimus, G. cristicollis, G. divaricatae. A lectotype is designated for G. triangularis and a neotype for G. mimus; two new synonyms are proposed: Gibbobruchus cavillator (Fåhraeus, 1839) = Gibbobruchus triangularis (Pic, 1926) syn. nov. = Gibbobruchus nigronotatus (Pic, 1931) syn. nov. Four species have new distribution records. An identification key for the species, descriptions, redescriptions, and illustrations, are also provided.