Caddisflies are a highly diverse group of aquatic insects, particularly in the Neotropical region where there is a high number of endemic taxa. Based on taxonomic contributions published until August 2019, a total of 796 caddisfly species have been recorded from Brazil. Taxonomic data about Brazilian caddisflies are currently open access at the “Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil” website (CTFB), an on-line database with taxonomic information on the animal species occurring in Brazil. The order Trichoptera at CTFB includes a catalog of species recorded for the country, with synonymic lists, distribution throughout six biomes, 12 hydrographic regions, and 27 political states (including Federal District) from Brazil. The database is constantly updated to include newly published data. In this study, we reviewed the taxonomic effort on Brazilian caddisflies based on data currently in CTFB database. The accumulation curve of species described or recorded from the country, by year, shows a strong upward trend in last 25 years, indicating that it is possible that there are many more species to be described. Based on presence/absence of caddisfly species at three geographic levels (biomes, hydrographic regions, and states), second order Jackknife estimated at least 1,586 species occurring in Brazil (with hydrographic regions as unities), indicating we currently know about 50% of the Brazilian caddisfly fauna. Species distribution by Brazilian biomes reveals that the Atlantic Forest is the most diverse, with 490 species (298 endemic), followed by the Amazon Forest, with 255 species (101 endemic). Even though these numbers may be biased because there has been more intense collecting in these two biomes, the percentage of endemic caddisfly species in the Atlantic Forest is remarkable. Considering the distribution throughout hydrographic regions, clustering analyses (UPGMA) based on incidence data reveals two groups: northwestern basins and southeastern. Although these groups have weak bootstrap support and low similarity in species composition, this division of Brazilian caddisfly fauna could be related to Amazon-Atlantic Forest disjunction, with the South American dry diagonal acting as a potential barrier throughout evolutionary time.

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Ecological studies are increasingly considering phylogenetic relationships among species. The phylogeny is used as a proxy or filter to improve statistical tests and retain evolutionary elements, such as niche conservation. We used the phylogenetic topology to improve the model for occurrence of Trichoptera genera in Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) streams. We tested whether parameters generated by logistic models of occurrence, using phylogenetic signals, are better than models generated without phylogenetic information. We used a model with Bayesian updating to examine the influence of stream water pH and phylogenetic relationship among genera on the occurrence of Trichoptera genera. Then, we compared this model with the logistic model for each Trichoptera genus. The probability of occurrence of most genera increased with water pH, and the phylogeny‐based explicit logistic model improved the parameters estimated for observed genera. The inferred relationship between genera occurrence and stream pH improved, indicating that phylogeny adds relevant information when estimating ecological responses of organisms. Water with elevated acidity (low pH values) may be restrictive for the occurrence of Trichoptera larvae, especially if the regional streams exhibit neutral to alkaline water, as is observed in the Cerrado region. Using phylogeny‐based modeling to predict species occurrence is a prominent opportunity to extend our current statistical framework based on environmental conditions, as it enables a more precise estimation of ecological parameters.

AIM: Larvae of Triplectides spp. and Marilia sp. occupying cases of other species are recorded and photographed; METHODS: The material was collected in different sites and dates in Atlantic Forest and Central Amazon regions; RESULTS: The Triplectides larvae seem to have an opportunistic behavior, occupying a great variety of cases, which reflects their common habit of enter in hollow twigs instead of build complex cases. However, this behavior is not frequently recorded in Marilia larvae, and we believe that the difference on the roughness of the interior walls, as well as the difference of the color of the material of the cases limit the opportunistic behavior in this genus; CONCLUSIONS: Experimental studies with different species can help the understanding of this behavior in the light of adaptive values.

Ants are one of the most important animal groups in tropical forests because of its abundance and number of species. An important characteristic of the group is the eusociality, which allows the occurrence of a recruitment behavior when food resource is found. However, there are two main questions regarding this behavior: (i) the recruitment is a product of environmental or phylogenetic pressures, and (ii) the recruitment speed is related to the body size of the ant species. In this work we addressed these two questions using 17 species of neotropical ants, in the Amazonic lowland dense rain forest. According to results, recruitment behavior is related to ant size, where smaller species exhibit this trait when finding a protein resource. However, species size is not important in recruitment speed, which suggests that speed can be best explained by the type of food resources needed in the ant colony. Resumo: Formigas são um dos mais importantes grupos animais nas florestas tropicais devido a sua abundância e seu número de espécies. Uma característica importante do grupo é a eusocialidade, que permite a ocorrência do comportamento de recrutamento quando um recurso alimentar é encontrado. Entretanto, existem duas questões principais acerca desse comportamento: (i) o recrutamento é um produto de pressões ambientais ou filogenéticas, e (ii) a velocidade de recrutamento é relacionada ao tamanho corpóreo das espécies de formigas. Neste trabalho nós analisamos essas duas questões em 17 espécies de formigas neotropicais, na floresta Amazônica densa de terras baixas. De acordo com os resultados, o recrutamento é fortemente relacionado com o tamanho da formiga, sendo que espécies menores exibem essa característica quando encontram uma fonte protéica. Entretanto, o tamanho das espécies não é importante na velocidade de recrutamento, o que sugere que a velocidade de recrutamento pode ser melhor explicado pelo tipo de recursos alimentares necessários à colônia. Palavras-chave: formicidae, comportamento de forrageio, contrastes filogenéticos, insetos sociais, Amazônia.

The leafhopper Poekilloptera phalaenoides L. (Auchenorrhyncha: Flatidae) is a very important species in agriculture because it causes damages and economic losses in agricultural activities. In observing fragments of semi-deciduous forest, riparian forest and cerrado forest (Cerradão) in Jataí, Montividiu and Paraúna in the southwest of the state of Goiás during the month of January 2012, were observed natural populations of Tachigali vulgaris (carvoeiro-branco). In the southwest of Goiás, an important agricultural region of the country, little is known about the damage caused to commercial crops by the leafhopper treated in this work, but here we call attention to the action of an agricultural pest interacting negatively with the native vegetation. The presence of P. phalaenoides in the Cerrado is already known, but the presence of the spittlebug in the southwest of the state of Goiás in T. vulgaris, especially in a situation of damage to the native population of the tree in forest fragments surrounded by agricultural crops. Thus, the objective of this work is to bring this first record of P. phalaenoides in T. vulgaris in the Cerrado of southwestern goiano.Keywords: leafhopper, Cerrado, phytophagous, honeydew, host Primeiro registro de Poekilloptera phalaenoides encontrados em Tachigali vulgaris (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae) no sudoeste de Goiás, BrasilResumo A cigarrinha Poekilloptera phalaenoides L. (Auchenorrhyncha: Flatidae) é uma conhecida espécie dentre culturas agrícolas e de interesse econômico devido os danos causados em atividades agrícolas. Observando fragmentos de mata estacional semidecidual, mata ciliar e cerradão em Jataí, Montividiu e Paraúna no sudoeste do estado de Goiás, durante o mês de janeiro de 2012, foram observadas populações naturais de Tachigali vulgaris (carvoeiro-branco). Em áreas que P. phalaenoides reduz o fitness de T. vulgaris, o ritmo da sucessão ecológica da área poderá ser modificado dependendo dos níveis da infestação das plantas. A presença de P. phalaenoides no Cerrado já é conhecida, mas a presença da cigarrinha no sudoeste do Estado de Goiás em T. vulgaris, especialmente em situação de prejuízo a população nativa em fragmentos florestais cercados de culturas agrícolas, é relato científico que torna importante este trabalho. Assim o objetivo deste trabalho é trazer este primeiro registro de P. phalaenoides em T. vulgaris no Cerrado do sudoeste goiano.

Five new species of the caddisfly genus Marilia Müller 1880 are described from the Neotropics, Marilia cabocla sp. nov., Marilia caipira sp. nov., Marilia cunhaporanga sp. nov., Marilia manicorei sp. nov., and Marilia muelleri sp. nov. Larvae and pupae of new species are also described, in addition to the immature stages of M. fasiculata Banks 1913 and M. huamantincoae Dumas & Nessimian 2009; an updated description of M. siolii Marlier 1964 male is provided. This work raises the number of species of this genus from 46 to 51 for the Neotropical Region.

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