The drosophilid fauna (Diptera, Drosophilidae) of the transition between the Pampa and Atlantic Forest Biomes in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil: first records

Abstract

Although studies on drosophilid (Diptera, Drosophilidae) assemblages have become relatively abundant in the past decades, many environments remain to be searched. The present study investigates the composition, the species abundances and the richness of the drosophilid assemblages in two localities of the municipality of Cruz Alta, northwestern region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, a point of contact between the biomes Atlantic Forest and Pampa: (i) an urban area (2007), constituted by a domestic orchard with Citrus trees, and (ii) a forested area, in Centro de Educação, Pesquisa e Proteção Ambiental - CEPPA (2008/2009), of Universidade de Cruz Alta, located in a fragment of riparian forest. Collections were conducted using fermented banana-baited traps and repeated periodically. A total of 7,428 individuals were caught, belonging to two subfamilies, six genera and 53 species. In the urban area, 22 species were found, from two genera (N = 2,421), while in the forested area 46 species were found, from six genera (N = 5,007). Six exotic species were found, markedly more abundant in the urban area, where they corresponded to 95% of the specimens, in comparison to 50% in the forest. Between the Neotropical species, the most common were Drosophila maculifrons Duda and D. polymorpha Dobzhansky & Pavan. Only D. simulans Sturtevant was captured in all samples in both localities. The present survey represents the first records for the state of Rio Grande do Sul of the D. canalinea and D. virilis species groups and the species D. arassari Cunha & Frota-Pessoa, D. fuscolineata Duda, D. nigricruria Patterson & Mainland, D. papei Bächli & Vilela, D. senei Vilela, D. trifilum Frota-Pessoa, D. virilis Sturtevant, Leucophenga maculosa (Coquillett) and Rhinoleucophenga obesa (Loew). Furthermore, it also represents the first record for the state of the genera Amiota Loew, Leucophenga Mik and Rhinoleucophenga Hendel and of the subfamily Steganinae. So, the present survey raises the number of drosophilid species recorded for the state from 66 to 75, the number of genera from five to eight, and subfamilies from one to two.

Brazilian populations ofDrosophila maculifrons(Diptera: Drosophilidae): low diversity levels and signals of a population expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum

“…Ecologically, D. maculifrons seems to be more generalist than its sister species, being found either in Brazilian Atlantic Forest or in Pampa biome regions, while D. griseolineata seems to be more restricted to the former (Salzano, ). Nevertheless, the frequency of this species along its distribution gradient seems to vary both spatially (see the contrast between De Toni et al ., and Hochmuller et al ., ) and temporally (Poppe, Valente & Schmitz, ). In fact, Poppe et al .…”

Identification key for drosophilid species (Diptera, Drosophilidae) exotic to the Neotropical Region and occurring in Brazil

“…The cosmopolitan Drosophila immigrans is abundant in the Palearctic and Nearctic Regions (David and Tsacas, 1981) and has been collected in Brazilian natural and modified environments since the pioneer studies of Pavan (1959). In this country, the abundance of D. immigrans seems to be low at warmer areas (Sene et al, 1980) but increases in the colder southern regions (Hochmüller et al, 2010). Drosophila nasuta, on the other hand, is widespread and abundant in the tropical parts of Africa (David and Tsacas, op cit.…”

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) of the Banhado dos Pachecos Wildlife Refuge, Uruguayan Savanna Ecoregion, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil

“…Despite its high biodiversity, little is known about invertebrate diversity in the Pampa. Considering that only recent studies focus on non-pest insects, some efforts made to evaluate the diversity of Coleoptera (Da Silva et al 2013), Diptera (Hochmüller et al 2010), Hemiptera (Mendonça Jr. et al 2009;Bunde et al 2010), Hymenoptera (Rosado et al 2012), Orthoptera (Cigliano et al 2000;Wysiecki et al 2000), and Lepidoptera (Krüger and Silva 2003;Romanowski, 2006a, 2006b;Paz et al 2008;Sackis and Morais 2008;Morais et al 2012;Paz et al 2013;Marchiori et al 2014) can be highlighted. Among insect, the butterflies are considered an adequate group for studies evaluating fragmented habitats (see discussion in Bonebrake et al 2010).…”