Opiliofauna (ARACHNIDA: OPILIONES) of the Atlantic Forest in the state of Paraná, Brazil.

Opiliones are arachnids that provide different services in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in tropical forests, which justifies inventory studies to better understand the occurrence and distribution of these arthropods in Brazil, since little is known about the harvestmen fauna in Conservation Units such as in the state of Paraná. In this context, the objective of the present study was to survey the harvestmen fauna at the Iguaçu National Park (PARNA) and in the Bela Vista Biological Refuge (BVBR), from September 2021 to May 2022, using a sampling effort of 40 hours in the BVBR, and 66 hours at the PARNA Iguaçu. Ten species/morphospecies were recorded, highlighting a new occurrence for Brazil, the species Opisthoplatus vegetus. The present study reduces the information gap about Opiliones in the state, which reaffirms the importance of Conservation Units for the protection of the biota in the state of Paraná.

Description of immature stages and development time of Paralucilia paraensis (Mello) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) associated with the decomposition of a partially submerged swine carcass.

We report on the bionomics and morphology of the immature stages of Paralucilia paraensis (Mello) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Observations were made on a daily basis for 10 h (from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) on a 45-kg pig (Sus scrofa) whose carcass had been partially submerged in a stream of water on the 21st of November 2009, in a forested area of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The collected specimens were placed in plastic vials and transferred to a growth chamber maintained at room temperature. Adults of P. paraensis were collected on the carcass between the 3rd and the 18th days. A total of 13 gravid females were captured; from these, 1,240 eggs were obtained and yielded 1,030 larvae that developed into 879 adults. The average time required for hatching was 13 h. On average, the larvae reached the second instar within 13 h, third instar within 18 h, and pupae within 46 h. The pupal stage lasted 96 h. The complete development time was 216 h. This is the first report on the development time and morphology of immature stages of P. paraensis in forested areas. Therefore, these results provided information for the implementation of future forensic studies in the state of Amazonas.