Marliton Rocha Barreto

Growth variation among Bacillus thuringiensis strains can affect screening procedures for supernatant-secreted toxins against insect pests.

BACKGROUND Supernatant-secreted proteins in Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) (Bt) with insecticidal activity provide an important source of information for discovery of new useful strains and/or entomotoxins. However, physiological variation among isolates might interfere in the detection efficiency of screening procedures on Bt collections. The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of this variation in a sample of isolates from a tropical Bt collection, which was gauged through the assessment of their temporal patterns of growth and protein secretion in culture supernatants (SNs), as well as of the corresponding toxicity against fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, JE Smith). Feeding bioassays were performed, with larvae being treated with heated and non-heated total protein extracted from SNs collected at different culture times. Larva mortality and reduction in pupa formation were observed. RESULTS Intra- and interisolate variations were observed in the temporal patterns of growth, quality and quantity of protein secreted, as well as in insecticidal activity of these SNs, based on larvae mortality and pupation rates. These results suggest that the insecticidal potential of certain isolates can be hidden if comparisons are done on the basis of the same number of cells in the culture and/or the same culturing time. CONCLUSIONS Methods of screening Bt collections on the basis of feeding bioassays can be misleading with regards to identifying more promising isolates for biocontrol purposes if physiological differences are not considered. The consequences and implications of these findings for the development of experimental systems that depend on toxicity bioassays to identify alternative Bt strains and entomotoxins with practical applicability have been discussed.

Cerambycinae (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) em Mato Grosso, Brasil

An inventory of Cerambycinae for the state of Mato Grosso, in particular the region of Sinop and Claudia, is presented. Thirty four species, distributed in 32 genera, are recorded for the state. Among them, four are new records for Mato Grosso: Anoplomerus rotundicollis G.-Meneville, 1844; Juiaparus mexicanus (Thomson, 1861); Poeciloxestia ochrotaenia (Bates, 1870); Thoracibidion ruficaudatum (Thomson, 1865).

New distribution record of Daceton boltoni Azorsa and Sosa-Calvo, 2008 (Insecta: Hymenoptera) in the Brazilian Amazon

The presence of Daceton boltoni in Cotriguacu municipality, state of Mato Grosso, southern Amazon is reported. Workers of D. boltoni were collected manually in nests on the branches of three Caxeta trees ( Simarouba amara Aubl. - Simaroubaceae) from a reforestation area. In the same location where D. boltoni was recorded, Daceton armigerum (Latreille 1802) workers have also been collected, corroborating the hypothesis that these are sympatric species. This is the first record of the occurrence of this species in Mato Grosso state and the second in the Brazilian Amazon.

Diversity and distribution of jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) along edges of Amazon–Cerrado transitional forests in Sorriso, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Little is known about the jumping plant-lice of Brazil from where seven families, 45 genera and 76 species have been previously reported, but estimates suggest that there may be as many as 1,000 species. This study reports 34 species of Psylloidea which were collected along the edges of Amazon–Cerrado natural transitional forests in the municipality of Sorriso, state of Mato Grosso, from August 2013 to July 2014. Of the species reported in this study only nine represent described taxa, two of which are reported for the first time from Mato Grosso.

Triplaris americana L. (Polygonaceae), a New Host Plant For Aethalion reticulatum (Linnaeus, 1767) (Hemiptera: Aethalionidae)

Triplaris americana is a plant that has been applied as ornamental specie and also as natural medicine. Adults and immature stages of Aethalion reticulatum were observed colonizing specimens of this plant in Sinop, MT, Brazil, which represent the first record of this leafhopper colonizing this specie.

Promecops claviger Hustache, 1929 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): first register in Brazil and first host plant register

For the first time in Brazil and in soybean plants ( Glycine max (L.) Merr.), the weevil Promecops claviger Hustache has been identified. The incidence occurred in the city of Sinop, Mato Grosso (11°48’14,64” S, 55°34’55,93” W), in October 2010.