Patricia Avello Nicola

Rickettsia amblyommii Infecting Amblyomma auricularium Ticks in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil: Isolation, Transovarial Transmission, and Transstadial Perpetuation

This study investigated rickettsial infection in Amblyomma auricularium ticks from the state of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. An engorged female of A. auricularium collected from a skunk (Conepatus semistriatus) was sent alive to the laboratory, where the female was found through molecular analysis to be infected by Rickettsia amblyommii. This engorged female oviposited, and its offspring was reared through three consecutive generations, always using tick-naïve rabbits to feed the ticks. PCR performed on five egg pools, 10 larvae, 10 nymphs, and 10 adults of each of the three generations always yielded rickettsial DNA, indicating maintenance of rickettsial infection in the ticks by transstadial and transovarial passages. DNA sequences of random PCR products from eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults were identified as R. amblyommii. All infested rabbits seroconverted to R. amblyommii antigens at the 21(st) day after infestation, indicating that larvae, nymphs, and adults transmitted R. amblyommii through parasitism. However, no infested rabbit presented fever or any clinical alteration during the experimental period. Rickettsiae were successfully isolated from the two A. auricularium females, and the isolates were established in Vero cell culture. Molecular characterization of the isolates confirmed R. amblyommii by sequencing partial gltA, ompA, and ompB genes. From another sample of 15 A. auricularium adult ticks collected from two armadillos (Euphractus sexcinctus), eight (53.3%) were infected by R. amblyommii. This study reports R. amblyommii infecting the tick A. auricularium for the first time. This is also the first report of rickettsia infecting ticks in the northeastern region of Brazil.

New Record of Leopardus pardalis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Carnivora: Felidae) in the Caatinga of the state of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil

The ocelot ( Leopardus pardalis ) has a wide geographic distribution. However, in Brazil, there is still a lack of information on their population status and, in the Caatinga, little is known about its occurrence. This paper aims to register the new occurrence of Leopardus pardalis in the State of Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil.

New records of Pseudopaludicola pocoto Magalhães, Loebmann, Kokubum, Haddad & Garda, 2014 (Amphibia: Anura: Leptodactylidae) in the Caatinga Biome, Brazil

We provide new records of Pseudopaludicola pocoto Magalhaes, Loebmann, Kokubum, Haddad & Garda, 2014 in the Caatinga Biome in the states of Paraiba and Pernambuco, which fill a distribution gap in this species’ range.

Comunidade de pequenos mamíferos não voadores e sua associação com estruturas fitofisionomicas distintas na serra do livramento, Pernambuco, Brasil

As relacoes entre as comunidades de pequenos mamiferos em habitats fitofisionomicamente distintos foram examinadas em tres areas distintas na Serra do Livramento no sertao Pernambucano. O estudo foi realizado no periodo de dezembro/2013 a maio/2014 e buscou contribuir para o conhecimento da composicao da comunidade de pequenos mamiferos dessa area, bem como correlaciona-la com a estrutura do habitat. Os pequenos mamiferos foram capturados com auxilio de armadilhas de queda dispostas em tres grades de amostragens. Thrichomys apereoides foi a especie mais abundante e com maior frequencia na grade I. Monodelphis domestica e Gracilinanus agilis foram exclusivos na grade I, enquanto de Calomys exupulsus foi exclusivo na grade III. O indice de similaridade de Morisita indicou elevada similaridade entre as grades I e II e baixa entre as grades I e III. Os parâmetros fitossociologicos como densidade, dominância, altura media e a ocorrencia de algumas familias botânicas contribuem de diferentes maneiras para a ocorrencia das diferentes especies de pequenos mamiferos nos habitats amostrados. Os achados desse estudo demonstram a importância dos estudos com pequenos mamiferos em diferentes Caatingas para uma melhor compreensao dos efeitos das pressoes antropogenicas sobre os diferentes grupos faunisticos.

A New Distributon Record of the Threatened Megasoma gyas rumbucheri Fischer, 1968 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) Northward to the Rio São Francisco, Pernambuco, Brazil

The genus Megasoma Kirby is composed of 17 species of medium to large sized beetles that occur from the southern United States to northern Argentina (Morón 2005; Ratcliffe and Morón 2005; Abadie et al. 2008). In Brazil, seven species and subspecies are known: Megasoma actaeon (L., 1758); Megasoma anubis Chevrolat, 1836; Megasoma gyas gyas (Herbst, 1775); Megasoma gyas porioni Nagai, 2003; Megasoma gyas rumbucheri Fischer, 1968; Megasoma janus janus Felsche, 1906; and Megasoma janus fujitai Nagai, 2003 (Morón 2005; Abadie et al. 2008). Males of Megasoma species have a single bifurcated head horn and, in most species, there are one discal and two lateral horns on the pronotum (Endrödi 1985). In males of M. gyas, the pronotal projections are elongated, acute, and anteriorly directed (Moore 2007). There are three subspecies of M. gyas, all of which occur in Brazil: M. gyas gyas in the southeastern Atlantic Rainforest; M. gyas rumbucheri in the northeastern Caatinga and Caatinga-Cerrado transitions; and M. gyas porioni restricted to the state of Bahia (Morón 2005). Megasoma gyas rumbucheri is considered a rare subspecies and differs from other conspecific subspecies by having a large frontal horn with a strongly bifurcated apex and elytral pubescence considerably longer (Endrodi 1985; Grossi et al. 2008). Megasoma gyas rumbucheri suffers from severe habitat loss in both humid and semi-arid environments of Brazil, where it is considered endangered (“vulnerable” status – Monteiro et al. 2008). Together with the imperative conservation of its remaining habitat, Grossi et al. (2008) proposed the following conservation measures: (1) searching for new populations, (2) studying its population dynamics and life cycle, and (3) captive rearing in order to reintroduce animals in nature. In 2010, M. gyas rumbucheri was recorded at latitudes above the São Francisco River, which also constituted the first record of the subspecies in a Brazilian Conservation Unit (Santos et al. 2013). We now report M. gyas rumbucheri in the state of Pernambuco, where it was last recorded in 1972 (Grossi et al. 2008), and provide biometrical data of the collected specimens. During monitoring activities by the “Projeto de Integração do Rio São Francisco com Bacias Hidrográficas do Nordeste Setentrional”, three males of M. gyas rumbucheri were collected in a locality known as Samambaia (8°19′25′′S