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Scatellini was proposed by Wirth & Stone, 1 956 and currently includes 242 described species in nine genera. The tribe has representatives in all biogeographic regions and about 70 species occur in the Neotropical Region. Prior to this study, only two species were recorded from Brazil: Scatella obscura and Limnellia itatiaia. In this paper, species of Scatellini from Brazil are reviewed with an emphasis on the fauna from southern Brazil, where six new species have been discovered and are described herein: Scatella praia, S. plaumanni, S. rara, Scatophila darrowae, S. dianneae, and S. prainha. To facilitate identification of the tribe and included genera and species, we have included diagnoses of these taxa and have also provided an annotated key to the Neotropical genera in Scatellini. We have also provided illustrations of structures of the male terminalia of all included species of the genus Scatophila. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gelanor Thorell, 1969 comprises 11 Neotropical species. In this paper, two new species are described from Bra- zil: Gelanor hoga sp. nov., based on males and females from the state of Amazonas, and Gelanor cachimbo sp. nov., based on males from the state of Pará. Additionally, new records from Brazil are provided for Gelanor altithorax Keyserling, 1893, Gelanor consequus O. P.-Cambridge, 1902, Gelanor juruti Benavides & Hormiga, 2016, Gelanor latus (Keyserling, 1881), Gelanor waorani Benavides & Hormiga, 2016 and Gelanor zonatus (C.L. Koch, 1845) and a key to the Brazilian species and illustrations are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptophion Viereck, 1913 is a small Neotropical genus of Campopleginae, with seven described species, two recorded from Brazil. In this paper, a new species from the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil is described and illustrated. In addition, a key to the Brazilian species is provided. Cryptophion atlanticus sp. nov. (holotype female deposited in DCBU: Brazil, São Paulo, São Luiz do Paraitinga, Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar) is diagnosed by mesoscutum more or less uniformly punctate, except the notaular region with coarser and irregular rugae, scutellum bearing irregular lateral longitudinal rugae; forewing with areolet not distinctly petiolate above and hind tarsal claw pectinate, but with a large space in the middle, and distinctly longer than the arolium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emersonella Girault, 1916 is a wasp genus including species that parasitize Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) eggs, mainly Cassidinae. It occurs only in the Americas, and is primarily distributed in the Neotropical Region. In this paper two new species of Emersonella from the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil are described and compared to similar species. Emersonella appendigaster sp. nov. is characterized by an elongate last gastral tergite in female, thoracic dorsum flat, femora and tibiae yellowish in female, malar sulcus absent, frontal suture slightly down-curved laterally, eyes with scattered hairs, frons and vertex smooth, and propodeum smooth with small anteromedian foveae. Emersonella frieirocostai sp. nov. is characterized by an elongate gaster in the female, at most 1.3 times as long as mesosoma and pointed at apex, propodeum with two large anterolateral foveae, pronotum hardly visible in dorsal view, with posterior part smooth, transverse pronotal carina present and malar sulcus absent. Both species are egg parasitoids of Metriona elatior (Klug, 1820) (Chrysomelidae) which feeds on Solanum viarum Dunal (Solanaceae). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arapona furcata sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on a male specimen from Peru, department of Madre de Dios. This species can be recognized by the following features: 1) styles without a concavity on the ventral margin; 2) aedeagus robust and with a pair of long and slender preatrial processes; and 3) aedeagus with two apical processes, each with a sharp and hook-like apex. A key to the three known species of the genus is added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using track analysis and cladistic biogeography, we identified areas of endemism of hummingbirds in the Andean and Neotropical regions. Our results point out that the current areas of endemism of hummingbirds occur in the Andes, Guiana Shield, the Lesser Antilles, western Central and North America and the Chiapas Highlands. The cladistic biogeographic analysis suggests a hummingbird distribution shaped mainly by dispersal events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lelegeis Champion, 1886 occurs only in the Neotropical region and comprises four species: L. aeneipennis Champion, 1886 from Mexico; L. apicalis Laporte & Brullé, 1831 from Cuba; L. hispaniolae Triplehorn, 1962 from Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and L. nigrifrons (Chevrolat, 1878) occurring in Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. Here, Lelegeis pytanga sp. nov. is described based on specimens collected in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, and the first detailed description of the sclerites of the male and female terminalia of Lelegeis is produced. The new species can be easily distinguished from the other Lelegeis by its dull reddish brown to reddish orange elytral coloration, while the remaining body surface is dull black. The morphology of Lelegeis and its generic boundaries within Diaperinae are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nungara gen. nov. is proposed to include the type species, Nungara niveomaculata (Mello-Leitão, 1941) comb. nov., transferred from Olios Walckenaer, 1837 and two new species, described from males and females: N. anama sp. nov., from the states of Sergipe, Alagoas and Espírito Santo, and N. gaturama sp. nov., from the states of Sergipe, Bahia and Espírito Santo, all in Brazil. The new genus is distinguished from all other Neotropical sparassid genera by the presence of a deep tegular groove on the male palpal bulb and a hood-like projection on the median septum of the female epigyne. In addition, Olios fuscovariatus Mello-Leitão, 1943, Stasina koluene Mello-Leitão, 1941 and Polybetes proximus Mello-Leitão, 1943 are transferred to Nungara gen. nov. and considered junior synonyms of N. niveomaculata. All species are described and illustrated and a distribution map is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of Drosophilidae from Uruguay are described and illustrated: Drosophila montevidensis sp. nov. (Holotype male in MZSP: Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Montevideo city, Department of Montevideo), and Scaptomyza pipinna sp. nov. (Holotype male in MZSP: Sarandí del Consejo, near north shore of Laguna de Castillos, Department of Rocha). The former species belongs to the D. tripunctata group and is sibling to Drosophila nappae Vilela, Valente & Basso-da-Silva, 2004, differing mainly in characters of the aedeagus. The latter is closely related to Scaptomyza striaticeps Wheeler & Takada, 1966, from which it can be distinguished by color and terminalia characters. The new Drosophila species was successfully cultured in a modified banana-agar medium which is provided. Photomicrographs of mitotic and meiotic chromosomes of D. montevidensis sp. nov. are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diaphorocleidus altamirensis sp. nov., parasitic on the gills of Argonectes robertsi Langeani, 1999 from the Xingu River, northern Brazil, is described. The new species differs from its six congeners by the morphology of the male copulatory organ (which comprises a coil of six rings), by the midventral vagina, and by the presence of only one pair of eyespots. It is the first species of Diaphorocleidus Jogunoori, Kritsky & Venkatanarasaiah, 2004 described from hemiodontid fishes. In addition, new host and geographical records of seven species of dactylogyrids found on fish from the Xingu River are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species of Falsocis are very distinct from members of other ciid genera and are relatively uniform morphologically. The genus has been recorded only from well preserved forests in the Neotropical region, from Costa Rica to southern Brazil. We describe Falsocis sooretama sp. nov. based on adult individuals collected at Reserva Biológica de Sooretama (Sooretama, state of Espírito Santo), a conservation unit of the Atlantic Forest biome. Falsocis sooretama sp. nov. is closely related to F. occultus Lopes-Andrade & Lawrence, but differs from it in possessing sparser stout bristles and very minute setae (~0.01 mm) on elytra, and apex of anterior male pronotal plate rounded rather than acute. The male genitalia of F. sooretama sp. nov. and F. occultus are conspicuously different: in the former the penis is enlarged at apex and the apical lobes of tegmen are not emarginated (each lobe has only a small excavation in the outer edge). Individuals of F. sooretama sp. nov. were found inside the basidiomes of an unidentified species of Hymenochaetaceae, possibly belonging to Phellinus. We also provide additional geographic records and an updated identification key to all Falsocis species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large fruit-eating phyllostomid bat, Artibeus lituratus (Olfers, 1818), forearm 69-75 mm, body mass 66-82 g, has a diversified geographic distribution in the Neotropical region. Therefore it is subjected to different climatic conditions that affect its reproduction, leading to different reproductive strategies such as continuous reproduction, seasonal monoestry or seasonal bimodal polyestry. In this study we used morphometric and histological methods to analyze the annual reproductive activity of A. lituratus males in a population living in the Atlantic Forest, Southeastern Brazil. Testis mass, epididymis mass, gonadosomatic index, seminiferous tubule diameter, and Leydig cell nucleus diameter showed no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the two seasons (wet: October to March; dry: April to September). Additionally, the cauda epididymis was packed with sperm throughout the period of study. Our data indicate that in this population spermatogenic activity was continuous throughout the year. Slight variations in accumulated frequency of pre-meiotic, meiotic and post-meiotic stages of the seminiferous epithelium cycle were observed when compared to other bat species, probably due to species-specific characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed the geographic variations in the shape and size of the cranium and mandible of two woolly opossums, Caluromys derbianus and Caluromys lanatus. Using geometric morphometrics we analyzed 202 specimens of C. derbianus and 123 specimens of C. lanatus, grouped in 7 and 9 populations, respectively. We found sexual dimorphism in shape variables only in the dorsal view of the cranium of Caluromys derbianus, which is not associated with geographical origin. We detected geographic variation in the size of the mandible in two populations (Nicaragua and Northern Panama), but no geographic variation in shape. The size of the cranium of C. lanatus varies significantly, with clinal variation in peri-Amazon populations, with a break between two populations, Bolivia and Paraguay. Shape analyses also revealed some separation between the Paraná population and all other populations. Our results suggest that the available name, Caluromys derbianus, should be maintained for all individuals throughout the geographic range of the species. The same is true for Caluromys lanatus, which can be separated into two distinct morphologic units, Caluromys lanatus ochropus, from the Amazon and Cerrado, and Caluromys lanatus lanatus, from the Atlantic forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We add three new species to the formerly monotypic Amazonian Hutamaia, Hutamaia maceta sp. nov., Hutamaia plei sp. nov. and Hutamaia trompsonica sp. nov. and compare them with the type species, Hutamaia caramaschii Soares & Soares, 1977. Hutamaia was known only from two localities: Humaitá, Amazonas, Brazil (type locality of the type species), and Madre de Dios, Peru. Herein we record species from the following additional localities, all in Brazil: Coari, Codajás, Juruá, Jutaí, Manacapuru, Tefé (state of Amazonas) and Gurupá (state of Pará), indicating that the genus has a widespread distribution in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon. Hutamaia is newly diagnosed by having yellowish granules on dorsal scutum, armature of coxa IV of males, metatarsi with yellow rings, ventral plate of penis trapezoid with V-shaped cleft, bearing two pairs of longitudinal rows of setae, and glans without dorsal or ventral processes. The genus is likely closely related to Licornus Roewer, 1932, from which it differs by the shape of the ventral plate of the penis and lack of dorsal process of glans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laelius Ashmead includes 54 known nominal species worldwide. We present a revision of the Neotropical species of Laelius and provide keys for the identification of males and females of these species. We propose fourteen nomenclatural changes and additions. For the Neotropics, seven new species from Brazil are described and illustrated: Laelius arryni sp. nov. which has clypeus bearing median lobe with apical margin straight; propodeal disc with inner discal carina complete; aedeagus with apical lobes touching each other and inner margin with hook-shaped process, L. baratheoni sp. nov. which has propodeal disc with second pair of discal carinae incomplete; genitalia with paramere wing-shaped; with long setae around the margin and cuspis wide, L. lannisteri sp. nov. which has median lobe of clypeus with apical margin straight; mesopleuron with mesopleural suture distinct; genitalia with paramere slender and angled, cuspis wide, L. martelli sp. nov. which has pronotum with series of foveae posteriorly; genitalia with paramere slender and placed dorsally, aedeagus not reaching apex of paramere, L. targaryeni sp. nov. which has head with clypeus wide and with apical margin rounded; propodeal disc without longitudinal ridge between median and inner discal carinae; forewing with r-rs & Rs longer than Rs+M, L. tullyi sp. nov. which has head densely punctate; pronotal disc, mesoscutum and mesoscutellum rugulose; mesopleuron with mesopleural suture not fused with posterior fovea, L. starki sp. nov. which has mesoscutellar sulcus straight; mesopleuron with all foveae closed; genitalia with paramere club-shaped and with aedeagus wide. For the Nearctic region, Laelius areolatus (Rosmann & Azevedo, 2005) is a new junior synonym of Laelius pedatus (Say, 1836) and lectotypes for L. rufipes Ashmead, 1893, L. nigripilosus Ashmead, 1893, L. tricarinatus Ashmead, 1893, L. trogodermatis Ashmaed, 1893, and Mesitius nigripilosus Ashmead, 1895 are designated. We also propose the name Laelius billi Barbosa & Azevedo nom. nov. for Mesitius nigripilosus Ashmead, 1895 and re-erect Laelius huachucae (Evans, 1965) from L. nigripilosus (Ashmead, 1895). As result, Laelius now includes 61 species, 15 of which are from the Neotropical region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dubiaranea argenteovittata Mello-Leitão, 1943 was described from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, based on a female. We describe and illustrate the male of the species for the first time, and provide the first records for the states of Santa Catarina and Paraná. The redescription and illustrations of the female is based on the holotype and new material from the type locality. New distributional records are also provided for the state of Rio Grande do Sul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Richardiidae is represented by ca. 180 species in 33 genera. A new species of Hemixantha, now totaling 20 species, is described from the Amazon Region, state of Pará, Brazil, and from Teoponte, Bolivia. Hemixantha maculosa sp. nov., H. picta Hennig, 1937 and H. pulchripennis Hendel, 1911 are richardiids known to have an extensively banded wing pattern. Hemixantha maculosa sp. nov. represents the first record of Hemixantha from the state of Pará and this species can be distinguished from H. picta and H. pulchripennis by anepisternum and dorsal half of anepimeron bright yellow and vein R2+3 slightly sinuous. Besides the hyaline areas on the wing of H. maculosa are very distinct from these other species, as follows: (1) subtrapezoidal median area in cell cua1 extended anteriorly to vein M, separated from hyaline area in cell dm; (2) two oblique areas from costal margin almost to or beyond vein R4+5, one proximal to and one distal to level of crossvein r-m; (3) a circular area on basal part of cell r4+5 and (4) a triangular area on basal region of cell mr An identification key, diagnoses, description and redescriptions, and illustrations to the species of Hemixantha with an extensively banded wing pattern are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]