Amblytropidia paranaensis n. sp., a new species of grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Gomphocerinae) from Paran State, Brazil, including new records, a distribution map and a key to the Brazilians species.

A new species of Amblytropidia Stl, 1873 (Orthoptera, Acrididae, Gomphocerinae), named Amblytropidia paranaensis n. sp., is delineated from the Trs Barras do Paran municipality, Paran State, Brazil. Detailed morphological delineations, accompanied by illustrations highlighting key diagnostic traits of both male and female external genitalia, are provided. Amblytropidia paranaensis n. sp. is distinguished from its congeners by distinctive body coloration, particularly evident in the head and thorax regions, as well as larger-sized anchorae compared to anterior projections, and uniquely trilobated and sclerotized lophi. Moreover, this study offers insights into the species habitat preferences, documented occurrences, a distribution map, and an updated taxonomy key specific to Brazilian Amblytropidia species.

Knowledge gaps hamper understanding the relationship between fragmentation and biodiversity loss: the case of Atlantic Forest fruit-feeding butterflies.

BACKGROUND: A key challenge for conservation biology in the Neotropics is to understand how deforestation affects biodiversity at various levels of landscape fragmentation. Addressing this challenge requires expanding the coverage of known biodiversity data, which remain to date restricted to a few well-surveyed regions. Here, we assess the sampling coverage and biases in biodiversity data on fruit-feeding butterflies at the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, discussing their effect on our understanding of the relationship between forest fragmentation and biodiversity at a large-scale. We hypothesize that sampling effort is biased towards large and connected fragments, which occur jointly in space at the Atlantic forest. METHODS: We used a comprehensive dataset of Atlantic Forest fruit-feeding butterfly communities to test for sampling biases towards specific geographical areas, climate conditions and landscape configurations. RESULTS: We found a pattern of geographical aggregation of sampling sites, independently of scale, and a strong sampling bias towards large and connected forest fragments, located near cities and roads. Sampling gaps are particularly acute in small and disconnected forest fragments and rare climate conditions. In contrast, currently available data can provide a fair picture of fruit-feeding butterfly communities in large and connected Atlantic Forest remnants. DISCUSSION: Biased data hamper the inference of the functional relationship between deforestation and biodiversity at a large-scale, since they are geographically clustered and have sampling gaps in small and disconnected fragments. These data are useful to inform decision-makers regarding conservation efforts to curb biodiversity loss in the Atlantic Forest. Thus, we suggest to expand sampling effort to small and disconnected forest fragments, which would allow more accurate evaluations of the effects of landscape modification.

Parks under attack: Brazil's Iguaçu National Park illustrates a global threat to biodiversity.

National parks are under attack in many parts of the world, including Brazil, which the Convention on Biodiversity ranks as the world's most biodiverse country. Brazil has been experiencing an unprecedented environmental crisis, and the political situation in the country favors approval of environmentally damaging measures by both the legislative and executive branches of government. A new and largely unreported setback is a proposal in the National Congress for a road cutting the Iguaçu National Park in two. Here, we identify environmental threats from the proposed road and pressures on the park from the surrounding human population. The proposed laws violate Brazil's constitution and would cause immeasurable damage to the park's biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. The road would reduce the cost of transport between two municipalities (counties), but not the cost of transporting soybeans, their main agricultural product. However, the local population would be better served by strengthening its ties to the park and promoting economic alternatives such as tourism, agroforestry, and organic agriculture. The Caminho do Colono road illustrates the danger posed by downgrading the status of protected areas in order to allow environmentally damaging activities. This trend is occurring in many countries and is especially evident in Brazil.

New species of grasshopper genus Aptoceras Bruner, 1908 (Orthoptera, Acrididae, Ommatolampidinae, Ommtolampidiini) from Iguaçu National Park (Southern Brazil), including a taxonomic key and distribution data.

A new species of the Neotropical grasshopper genus Aptoceras Bruner, 1908 is described from individuals collected in the Iguaçu National Park, Paraná State, Brazil. Aptoceras iguassuensis n. sp. inhabits in shrubs in the Atlantic Forest. The species belongs to the genus group Nicarchae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893. Descriptions, photographs, and illustrations of the male and female, as well as photographs of the male phallic sclerites are presented. An identification key for the five species of Aptoceras from Brazil and a distribution map are also given.

New species of Poecilocloeus Bruner, 1910 (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Proctolabinae) from Paraná State, Brazil.

In this study, we describe a new species of the genus Poecilocloeus from Renascença municipality, Paraná State, Brazil. Poecilocloeus renascensis n. sp. inhabits the Atlantic Semideciduous Forest edges of Renascença and adjacent areas, and our study is the first record of this genus from southern Brazil. The species belongs to the group bullatus (Rehn, 1908), and the descriptions are based on morphological characters, mainly from male genitalia. Morphological descriptions are provided together with illustrations emphasizing the most significant diagnostic features of external morphology and male genitalia. Information is given about type specimens, examined material and geographic distribution.