Natural history of the terrestrial amphipodCerrorchestia hylorainaLindeman (Crustacea: Amphipoda; Talitridae) in a Costa Rican cloud forest

Abstract

The field biology of the Costa Rican landhopper (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Talitridae) Cerrorchestia hyloraina Lindeman was investigated in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica. On the Pacific (leeward) side of the continental divide, local distribution follows a gradient of moisture, from densities of over 200 m-2 in the elfin forest at 1600 m, to extremely low densities in drier forest types. Below 1400m, the leaf litter is apparently too dry to support landhopper populations. On the Caribbean (windward) side of the continental divide, landhoppers occur well below 1400m. A discussion of geographic distribution is included. Landhoppers prefer aged (microfaunally pre-processed) leaves as food, and move about only at night or in the mornings of heavily overcast days. Average female fecundity is seven eggs, with progressive loss of marsupium contents over time. The sex ratio is biased towards females. In cloud forest, breeding apparently is continuous throughout the year, with some increase after the beginning of the rainy season. There are 9-10 juvenile instars and 5-6 adult instars. The relationship of antennal segment number to total body length is linear.

Some Aspects of the Population Ecology of the Exotic Amphipod, Talitroides Topitotum, in an Atlantic Forest Reserve in Brazil

“…Interactions among rainfall, relative air humidity, and temperature largely determine the population dynamics of terrestrial amphipods, both stimulating their activity (Lopes & Masunari, 2004b), and possibly also determining variations in fecundity and development time (Lindeman, 1991). In the study area, summer is the season that merges optimum levels of many of these factors for T. topitotum, probably leading to the observed population growth at this time of year, associated with the increase in immature (juveniles and non-ovigerous females) recruitment.…”

Molecular genetic and developmental studies on Malocostracan crustacea

“…Within the Crustacea, amphipods rank as one of the most ecologically successful and speciose extant orders and occur in nearly all known marine, fresh, and brackish water environments as well as in high-humidity terrestrial ecosystems (such as tidal zones, coastal flood plains, and forest leaf litter) (e.g. Barnard and Karaman, 1991;Vinogradov et al, 1996;Lindeman, 1991;Sherbakov et al, 1999;Vainola and Kamaltynov, 1999;Sheader et al, 2000;Poltermann et al, 2000). They have predominately exploited scavenging niches and thus an apt description for the group would be 'the flies of the sea'.…”

Primer registro e histología básica del anfípodo terrestre Talitroides topitotum (Amphipoda: Talitridae), introducido en las zonas montañosas de Heredia, Costa Rica

“…Lindeman (1989;1990;1991) desarrolló una investigación para clarificar la presencia de estos crustáceos en México y Centro América, incluyendo Costa Rica. Su estudio revela la presencia de la siguiente especie nativa en Costa Rica-Panamá: Cerrorchestia hyloraina (Lindeman, 1990), distribuida desde el Volcán Rincón de la Vieja (Guanacaste), Monte Verde (Puntarenas), Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo (Heredia), Turrialba (Cartago), hasta El Llano, Panamá.…”

“…En América, se ha reportado su introducción en Estados Unidos de Norteamérica: Carolina del Sur y Florida (Biernbaum, 1980), en México: Oaxaca y Ciudad de México (Lindeman, 1990;Álvarez, Winfield & Cházaro, 2000), y en Brasil: Guaratuba, Paraná (Lopes & Masurani, 2004a), en el Estado de Espírito Santo (Eutrópio & Krohling, 2013) y São Paulo (Matavelli, Uehara-Prado, Leite & Freitas, 2009). Esta especie se establece en el estrato superficial de bosques con suelos ricos con materia en descomposición, de la que se alimentan (Lindeman, 1991). En Brasil, la especie fue introducida con la importación de árboles jóvenes y aparece asociada con áreas reforestadas con Eucalyptus (L'Heritier, 1789) (Ulian & Mendes, 1988, Lopes & Masunari, 2004a.…”