Gabriely Köerich Souza

Metodologia alternativa para o Teste de Tetrazólio em sementes de Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze

The objective of this research was to verify the possible use of an alternative methodology for the tetrazolium test in A. angustifolia seeds. Seeds of three lots were submitted to immersion in water for 18 hours. The seeds had their coats and nutritive tissue removed and the embryos were soaked in 1.0%, 0.5% and 0.1% tetrazolium solution at 25 °C for one hour, applying the standard methodology described for the species. Germination tests were performed to verify the reliability of results through the tetrazolium test. Immersion in water for 18 hours followed by the removal of seed coat and nutritive tissue and immersion in tetrazolium solution at 0.1% or 0.5% at 25 °C for 1 hour was an efficient methodology to evaluate the seed viability of A. angustifolia.

Paracrias pluteus (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) in Brazil: new distribution and host records, and with a new host group for Paracrias.

Abstract Bruchines damage agricultural crops and trees, reducing the quantity and quality of the seeds. The aim of this study is to record, for the first time, Paracrias pluteus as a parasitoid on the immature stages of Sennius spodiogaster and Sennius cupreatus on seeds of Melanoxylon brauna in Teixeiras, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Paracrias pluteus is a parasitoid without previous host records and known only from Costa Rica. Specimens obtained in this study add to knowledge of the biology of Paracrias species with a new host group (Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), and the first host record and a new distribution for Paracrias pluteus.

Metodologia Alternativa para o Teste de Tetrazólio em Sementes de Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze / Alternative Methodology for the Tetrazolium Test in Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze Seeds

The objective of this research was to verify the possible use of an alternative methodology for the tetrazolium test in A. angustifolia seeds. Seeds of three lots were submitted to immersion in water for 18 hours. The seeds had their coats and nutritive tissue removed and the embryos were soaked in 1.0%, 0.5% and 0.1% tetrazolium solution at 25 °C for one hour, applying the standard methodology described for the species. Germination tests were performed to verify the reliability of results through the tetrazolium test. Immersion in water for 18 hours followed by the removal of seed coat and nutritive tissue and immersion in tetrazolium solution at 0.1% or 0.5% at 25 °C for 1 hour was an efficient methodology to evaluate the seed viability of A. angustifolia.

Reproductive Tract Histology of Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae)

ABSTRACT The bronze bug Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpintero & Dellapé (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae) is a pest of Corymbia and Eucalyptus. Thus far, there are no effective control methods for this pest in commercial plantations. A study of the reproductive tract could provide basic strategies for controlling this insect. T. peregrinus females and males, of different ages, were obtained from mass rearing and analyzed using light microscopy. The male reproductive tract has a pair of testes with three globular follicles isolated by a peritoneal sheath, and two pairs of well-developed mesadenial tubular accessory glands. The female reproductive tract includes a pair of ovaries, each with two meroistic telotrophic ovarioles, opening into two long lateral oviducts, which joints in a short common oviduct. This common oviduct ends in a large and folded, thick-cuticle lined bursa copulatrix. Eggs with embryos in the stages of anatrepsis, catatrepsis, and post dorsal closure were found in the reproductive tract of females. The reproductive tract of T. peregrinus males and females are similar to those of other Thaumastocoridae, but differ in the number of ovarioles per ovary in its females.

Acca sellowiana (Myrtaceae): A New Alternative Host for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Brazil

Summary We report, for the first time, the occurrence and development of Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in fruits of Acca sellowiana (Berg) Burret (Myrtaceae). Although fruits of A. sellowiana present hard and thick skin, damage caused by another insect pest, Conotrachelus psidii Marshall (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), may have enabled fruit infestation by D. suzukii.

Epidermis Associated with Wax Secretion in the Harpactor angulosus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

ABSTRACT Beginning at the third instar, the generalist predator Harpactor angulosus (Lepeletier & Serville) (Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) appears gray in color because of the presence of a whitish particulate wax-like material covering all body segments. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that epidermal cells are responsible for the secretion of the wax-like substance onto the cuticle of H. angulosus. The integument of third instar to the adults of H. angulosus have no external structures specialized in wax secretion, as the wax particles are deposited in a filamentous manner. Third to fourth instars and adult stages have a single-layered epidermis composed of columnar cells. In contrast, lack of wax deposit on the body surface of first and second instars is associated with flattened epidermal cells. The columnar epidermal cells are characterized by a well-developed nucleus, basal cell surface with large infoldings, and a cytoplasm rich in vacuoles. These vacuoles are negative for the presence of carbohydrates and proteins, but strongly positive for the presence of lipids. The structural features of the epidermis and the presence of lipid droplets suggest that lipid metabolism is active within the epidermis from the third instar to the adult of H. angulosus. This is the first record of a glandular epidermis associated with wax secretions in Reduviidae.

Eggshell Structure of the Predator Harpactor angulosus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

ABSTRACT Structural analyses of eggs from Reduviidae may provide important data to establish relationships among the representatives of this family. This study described the eggshell morphology of Harpactor angulosus (Lepeletier and Serville 1825) (Reduviidae: Harpactorinae). Eggs of H. angulosus were analyzed using a stereoscopic microscope and a scanning electron microscope. Eggs of H. angulosus are oval-shaped and slightly flattened laterally, with an eggshell surface with several pores and a rounded posterior pole. The anterior pole has a poorly pronounced neck region, without formation of the collar and a small chorionic rim and with an incomplete anterior appendage without connection between the veil and opercular projections. Aeropyles have a tube-like aspect, arising in the middle region of the veil and extending until the sealing bar. Eggs of H. angulosus were similar to those of other Harpactorinae, but with differences in length, width, anterior appendage characteristics, and eggshell invaginations.

Sennius trinotaticollis (Pic) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) in Brazil: New Distribution and Host Records

Bruchines (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae:Bruchinae) are known as seed beetles or bean weevils. Several species of Bruchinae damage seeds of economically important agricultural crops such asGlycine max (L.) (soybean) (Costa et al. 2007), Phaseolus coccineus L. (runner bean), Phaseolus vulgaris L. (common bean), Phaseolus lunatus L. (lima bean) (Hansson et al. 2004; Bonet 2008), Vigna radiata L. (mung bean) (Somta et al. 2008), and Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp (cowpea) (Aebi et al. 2008). Damage reduces the quantity and quality of the seeds, making them unsuitable for human consumption and agricultural use (Somta et al. 2008). Bruchinae consist of about 1,700 described species distributed in six tribes, nine subtribes, and 67 genera worldwide (Udayagiri and Wadhi 1989; Johnson and Romero 2004; Johnson and Romero 2006). The genus Sennius Bridwell, 1946 encompasses 48 species occurring in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions (Silva et al. 2003). Most of them feed on seeds of Leguminosae subtribe Cassiinae (Johnson 1977, 1984), which includes the genera Senna Mill, Chamaecrista Moench, and Cassia L. (Irwin and Barneby 1981). Although the number of described species of Sennius is relatively high, details about the geographic distribution and hosts of some species occurring in Brazil are scarce. Thus, the aim of this study is to record, for the first time, Sennius trinotaticollis (Pic, 1930) on Senna macranthera (Colladon) Irwin and Barneby and its occurrence in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Seeds of S. macranthera infested by bruchines were collected in Viçosa (20°46′11′′ S, 42°52′31′′ W), Minas Gerais in August 2009 and sent to the Laboratório de Sementes Florestais, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, where they were stored in plastic bags in a dark room at 20° C and 60% RH. Bruchines that emerged from the seeds were collected and stored in 70% alcohol and sent to the Laboratório de Sistemática e Bioecologia de Coleoptera of the Universidade Federal do Paraná for identification by the third author. Two bruchine species were identified as Sennius bondari (Pic, 1929) and S. trinotaticollis. Voucher material is deposited in the Coleção de Entomologia Pe. J. S. Moure, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Sennius species feed mainly on seeds of the genus Senna (Johnson 1984). Sennius bondari is a generalist species and has been found damaging seeds of several Senna species (Ribeiro-Costa 1998; RibeiroCosta and Reynaud 1998), including S. macranthera (Linzmeier et al. 2004). The only known hosts of S. trinotaticollis are Senna hayesiana (Britton and Rose) Irwin andBarneby and Senna oxyphylla (Kunth) Irwin and Barneby in Panama and Guatemala (Johnson 1977, 1984). Sennius trinotaticolliswas just recently found in Brazil (J. H. Viana, unpublished