A new species of Pseudophanerotoma (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from Nayarit, Mexico.

Parasitoid wasps are known to be among the most abundant and species-rich on Earth and thus considered an ecologically important group of arthropods. Braconid wasps play a key role in regulating the populations of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera. However, the biology and taxonomy of numerous parasitoid species remain poorly known. In Mexico, only 17 species of the subfamily Cheloninae have been described. A new species of Pseudophanerotoma Zettel, 1990 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), P.huichol sp. nov., is described from Nayarit, Mexico. The tortricid moth Cryptaspasmaperseana Gilligan & Brown, 2011 is reported as the host of this parasitoid wasp. Detailed taxonomic and barcoding information are provided.

Health reform in Mexico: governance and potential outcomes.

Adopting key mechanisms to restructure public policy in developing countries is a crucial political task. The strengthening of infrastructure of health services, care quality, monitoring and population health; all might contribute to assuring the functionality of a national system for health monitoring and care. Over the last decades, the Mexican government has launched wide-ranging political reforms aiming to overcome socioeconomic and environmental problems, namely health, education, finances, energy and pension. The proposed (but yet not implemented) health reform in Mexico during E. Peña Nieto's administration (2012-2018) pretended an adjustment in Article 4 of the Mexican Constitution to compact medical care and reduce the State's responsibility to a provision of minimum health packages for the population. Here we use a simple analytical model to describe and interprete the concepts of context, process, actors and content and the outcome of three of the most important resulting components of this intended reform i.e. universality, basic packages, and 'outsourcing'. In light of the start of the Mexico's new federal administration, we argue that, if not properly defined by all actors, the implementation of such structural health reform in Mexico would precipitate a model of private/public association exacerbating a crisis of political representation, human rights, justice and governance.

Dipteran Diversity and Ecological Succession on Dead Pigs in Contrasting Mountain Habitats of Chiapas, Mexico.

A comparative study of Diptera communities associated with pig carcasses was carried out in urban and natural settings in tropical mountain habitats of Southern Mexico. Schoenly-type traps were used to set out pig carcasses during 68 d of sampling effort. In total, 1,703 adult Diptera specimens were collected in both localities combined, and recording a total of 30 (morpho) species and 19 families. Compared to natural habitats, a significantly greater diversity in urban habitats, as well as a faster decomposition process of carcasses, was detected. Significant differences were also detected for the composition and structure of Dipteran communities between urban and natural sites. Dominant species of Calliphoridae for natural and urban habitats were represented by Compsomyiops spp. and Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius; Diptera: Calliphoridae), respectively. The properties of indicator species for urban and natural sites are discussed. Twenty Dipteran species were significantly associated to different decomposition stages. Such affinity would allow for estimating the post-mortem interval (PMI) in comparable situations.

Beetle succession and diversity between clothed sun-exposed and shaded pig carrion in a tropical dry forest landscape in Southern Mexico.

Over a 31-day period, the decomposition process, beetle diversity and succession on clothed pig (Sus scrofa L.) carcasses were studied in open (agricultural land) and shaded habitat (secondary forest) in Southern Mexico. The decomposition process was categorised into five stages: fresh, bloated, active decay, advanced decay and remains. Except for the bloated stage, the elapsed time for each decomposition stage was similar between open and shaded habitats, all carcasses reached an advanced decay stage in seven days, and the fifth stage (remains) was not recorded in any carcass during the time of this study. A total of 6344 beetles, belonging to 130 species and 21 families, were collected during the entire decomposition process, and abundances increased from fresh to advanced decay stages. Staphylinidae, Scarabaeidae and Histeridae were taxonomically and numerically dominant, accounting for 61% of the species richness and 87% of the total abundance. Similar numbers of species (87 and 88 species for open and shaded habitats, respectively), levels of diversity and proportions (open 49%; shaded 48%) of exclusive species were recorded at each habitat. There were significantly distinct beetle communities between habitats and for each stage of decomposition. An indicator species analysis ("IndVal") identified six species associated to open habitats, 10 species to shaded habitats and eight species to advanced decay stages. In addition, 23 beetle species are cited for the first time in the forensic literature. These results showed that open and shaded habitats both provide suitable habitat conditions for the carrion beetle diversity with significant differences in community structure and identity of the species associated to each habitat. This research provides the first empirical evidence of beetle ecological succession and diversity on carrion in Mexican agro-pastoral landscapes.