Liolaemus lizards (Squamata: Liolaemidae) as hosts for the nymph of Amblyomma parvitarsum (Acari: Ixodidae), with notes on Rickettsia infection.

Adults of Amblyomma parvitarsum are common ectoparasites of South American camelids of the genera Lama and Vicugna, occuring in highlands of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru and also in Argentinean Patagonia. Whereas larval stages of this tick are known to feed on small lizards, host records for the nymphal instar have remained unreported. Supported by morphological and molecular analyses, herein we report A. parvitarsum nymphs parasitizing two Liolaemus species (Reptilia: Squamata) in the Andean Plateau of Argentina and Chile. Additionally, by a PCR screening targetting gltA and ompA genes, DNA of Rickettsia was detected in one of the collected nymphs. Obtained sequences of this agent were identical to a recent Rickettsia sp. described infecting adults of this tick species in Chile and Argentina.

Taxonomic revision of the peculiar genus Xylopodia (Loasaceae) with a new species from Argentina and Bolivia demonstrating an atypical trans-Andean disjunction.

Loasaceae subfam. Loasoideae are a nearly exclusively American plant group with a center of diversity in Peru. Numerous new taxa have been described over the past decades; one of the most striking discoveries was that of the narrowly endemic Xylopodia with the single species Xylopodiaklaprothioides in Peru, Dpto. Cajamarca in 1997. Surprisingly, field studies in the past years have resulted in the discovery of material clearly belonging to the same genus in both Bolivia and northern Argentina, approximately 1500 km SE of the next known population of Xylopodia in Contumazá, Peru. A closer examination shows that Argentinian and Bolivian material belongs to a single species, clearly different from Xylopodiaklaprothioides. We here describe Xylopodialaurensis and the entire genus is revised. Both species are illustrated, all aspects of their biology and ecology are portrayed and their threat status is discussed.

First observation on the predation of a non-arthropod species by a dung beetle species: The case of Canthon chalybaeus and the snail Bulimulus apodemetes.

We described, for the first time, a case of predation of a non-arthropod species by a dung beetle species. Canthon chalybaeus Blanchard, 1843 kills healthy individuals of the terrestrial snail Bulimulus apodemetes (D'Orbigny, 1835) showing an evident pattern of physical aggressiveness in the attacks using the dentate clypeus and the anterior tibiae. The description of this predatory behaviour was complemented with the analysis of the chemical secretions of the pygidial glands of C. chalybaeus, highlighting those main chemical compounds that, due to their potential toxicity, could contribute to death of the snail. We observed a high frequency of predatory interactions reinforcing the idea that predation in dung beetles is not accidental and although it is opportunistic it involves a series of behavioural sophistications that suggest an evolutionary pattern within Deltochilini that should not only be better studied from a behavioural point of view but also phylogenetically.