Nelson Papavero

As miíases na região neotropical (identificação, biologia, bibliografia)

Data are given on the identification, biology, ecology, hosts, geographical distribution, control, and other aspects of the myiasis-producing flies in the Neotropical Region. The bibliography contains almost 2400 references, mainly related to Cochliomyia (ca. 1170 references), Cuterebridae (with the exception of Dematobia hominis (over 390 references), and to Dermatobia hominis (over 520 references). For Cuterebridae and Cochliomyia the bibliography covers the Americas; for ali other groups it is restricted to the Neotropics.

Taxonomic Impediment or Impediment to Taxonomy? A Commentary on Systematics and the Cybertaxonomic-Automation Paradigm

Marcelo R. de Carvalho AE Flavio A. Bockmann AE Dalton S. Amorim AE Carlos Roberto F. Brandao AE Mario de Vivo AE Jose L. de Figueiredo AE Heraldo A. Britski AE Mario C. C. de Pinna AE Naercio A. Menezes AE Fernando P. L. Marques AE Nelson Papavero AE Eliana M. Cancello AE Jorge V. Crisci AE John D. McEachran AE Robert C. Schelly AE John G. Lundberg AE Anthony C. Gill AE Ralf Britz AE Quentin D. Wheeler AE Melanie L. J. Stiassny AE Lynne R. Parenti AE Larry M. Page AE Ward C. Wheeler AE Julian Faivovich AE Richard P. Vari AE Lance Grande AE Chris J. Humphries AE Rob DeSalle AE Malte C. Ebach AE Gareth J. Nelson

Notas sobre o bicho-da-seda no folclore Chinês

Notes about the silkworm in Chinese folklore. Two legends about the silkworm (Bombyx mori Linnaeus, 1758) in Chinese folklore are presented: one about its origin, the other about cats as protectors of silkworms and sericulture.

As notas do Padre Anselm Eckart, S. J., sobre alguns animais do Estado do Grão-Pará e Maranhão (1785)

The passages related to the fauna of the State of Grao-Para and Maranhao, written by Father Anselm Eckart (1721-1807), S. J., in 1785, are translated and commented. Critical notes about every cited animal were included, bringing the species knowledge up to date and comparing the zoological and linguistic information compiled by the Jesuit with other contemporary documents and with the related scientific literature.

Menções ao “Pau-Brasil” do velho e do novo mundos em fontes portuguesas dos séculos XV, XVI e XVII

The name “brazil”, in Portuguese language sources, as applied to the species of Caesalpinia (Fabaceae) from the Old and the New Worlds or to the dyeing substance proper produced by them, is polysemic. It may refer to four different things (whose termini a quo are the folowing): (a) Caesalpinia bonduc – 1462, Afonso V de Portugal; (b) Cesalpinia sappan – 1499, Alvaro Velho and D. Manuel I de Portugal; (c) Caesalpinia echinata – 1502, Cantino’s Planisphere; (d) the dyeing substance proper – 1618, Ambrosio Fernandes Brandao. The termini a quo and further references to the synonyms or variants of those items are also included. The period covered is from the 15th to 17th centuries.

Evolucionismo darwinista? Contribuições de Alfred Russel Wallace à teoria da evolução

Teria sido mesmo Charles Darwin o autor da teoria do processo evolutivo? Em suas pesquisas, Darwin discute mais a origem da selecao natural do que propriamente a origem das especies. Tres anos antes da publicacao do artigo de Darwin, outro naturalista, Alfred Russel Wallace, publicou um trabalho propondo que todas as especies vivas descendiam de um unico ancestral comum. Foi Wallace o primeiro a notar que cada margem dos rios amazonicos podia ser habitada por especies diferentes de macacos. Em 1858, Wallace sintetiza a teoria da selecao natural, mas ao inves de publicar a descoberta, remete-a para Darwin que, pouco tempo depois, publica A Origem das Especies. Este artigo visa discutir quais seriam as contribuicoes de Wallace para as teorias evolutivas.

Zoonímia tupi nos escritos quinhentistas europeus

About 1330 Tupi names of animals (including variations) were registered by European authors during the 16th century. The passages related to them, of each author, is transcribed and the names identifi ed as far as possible. A catalogue of the species that were known at that time is also presented. Key-words: Zoonymy, Tupi Language, Brazil, European authors, 16th Century, Catalogue of the species.

Fauna e flora do Brasil (especialmente do Mato Grosso) segundo Joseph Barbosa de Sáa (1769)

Joseph Barbosa de Saa (? – 1775), mais conhecido por seus escritos sobre a historia do estado do Mato Grosso, Brasil, completou em 1769 um volumoso (408 folios) e erudito manuscrito, intitulado “Dialogos geograficos, coronologicos, polliticos e naturais”, que nunca foi publicado na integra. Esse manuscrito esta depositado na Biblioteca Publica do Porto (manuscrito no. 235), em Portugal. Dez capitulos desse manuscrito tratam dos produtos naturais do Brasil (acima de mil, quase a metade sendo animais), observados por Saa ao longo da costa do Rio de Janeiro, em Sao Paulo, sul de Goias e especialmente no Mato Grosso, sendo a primeira monografia sobre a historia natural deste ultimo estado. Esses capitulos sao aqui transcritos e comentados.

Uma breve história dos morcegos vampiros (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae, Desmodontinae) no Brasil colônia

Out of 167 species of Chiroptera reported for Brazil, only three representatives of Desmodontinae (Phyllostomidae) are hematophagous, a unique feature among the known species of bats. This reduced group includes Desmodus rotundus, Diaemus youngi and Diphylla ecaudata, all widely distributed over Central and South America. The first notice about vampire bats appeared in the beginning of the 16th century, in the tenth book of the first “Decade” of Pietro Martire de Anghiera (1511), related to the exploration of the continent. For Brazil, the oldest citation of blood-sucking bats was due to Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (1555). Exceedingly abundant, those bats attacked human beings and caused serious damage to herds, being extremely difficult to control due to the scarce means available during colonial times. Among those, special mention should be made to the “gatos morcegueiros” (literally “bat-hunting cats”), individuals of Felis catus used to catch vampire bats in houses and corrals. Mentioned at least since the first half of the 18th century, those cats were included in property valuations and reached the price of several heads of cattle. Even nowadays, domestic cats are efficient predators of hematophagous bats in rural areas of Brazil and Argentina. Judging from historical records, the problems now caused by bloodsucking bats should not be regarded as one of the consequences of an omnipresent “ecological unbalance”, caused by a shortage of natural hosts and/or the loss of natural habitats. A highly plastic and opportunistic species such as Desmodus rotundus became adapted with extreme efficiency to the new environment, predominantly modeled by the expansion of cattle breeding, the progressive confinement of the herds, and the construction of buildings affording shelter for the bats. These are factors that would have promoted the explosive growth of an already substantially large original population of bats, to the point of converting it into an authentic pest.