The genus Triozocera Pierce, 1909 (Insecta: Strepsiptera: Corioxenidae) in South America.

A new species of Triozocera from the Brazilian Amazon basin was found in a sample of male Strepsiptera from the collection of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA-Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil). Triozocera buehrheimi sp.n. is described and the status of T. paulistana Kogan, 1958, the first strepsipteran described from Brazil, is reviewed, with additional diagnostic characters used to reinstate the species based on comparative analyses to the other three species occurring in southern US, Mexico, and Central America: T. mexicana Pierce, 1909, T. tecpanensis Brailowsky and Márquez, 1974, and T. vernalis Kifune and Brailowsky, 1987. A key to those species is included.

New fossil Stylops (Strepsiptera: Stylopidae) from Dominican amber.

Description of a new species of the genus Stylops from Dominican amber expands the number of families of this order represented by fossils of the mid-Eocene in the Neotropical region. The specimen described herein is reasonably well preserved, except for the tip of the abdomen that hampered observation of the aedeagus. The specimen fits definition of the comtemporary genus Stylops and differs from a related species, Jantarostylops kinzelbachi Kulicka, from Baltic amber, by the larger number of ommatidia, relative proportion of antennal segments, and venation of hind wings. The specimen differs from other contemporary species of Nearctic Stylops in, among other characters, the smaller size, sub-costa detached from costa and maxillary structure. Discovery of this fossil species of Stylops provides evidence of a possibly more temperate climate in the Antilles, since most contemporary species of the genus occur predominantly in the temperate zones of the Nearctic, Palearctic, and Oriental regions. All known species of the genus parasitize bees of the genus Andrena ( sensu lato). Existence of a fossil andrenid, Protandrena eickworti Rozen Jr, of the same Dominican amber, offers evidence of a potential host for this new species of Stylops.

New fossil Stylops (Strepsiptera: Stylopidae) from Dominican amber

Description of a new species of the genus Stylops from Dominican amber expands the number of families of this order represented by fossils of the mid-Eocene in the Neotropical region. The specimen described herein is reasonably well preserved, except for the tip of the abdomen that hampered observation of the aedeagus. The specimen fits definition of the comtemporary genus Stylops and differs from a related species, Jantarostylops kinzelbachi Kulicka, from Baltic amber, by the larger number of ommatidia, relative proportion of antennal segments, and venation of hind wings. The specimen differs from other contemporary species of Nearctic Stylops in, among other characters, the smaller size, sub-costa detached from costa and maxillary structure. Discovery of this fossil species of Stylops provides evidence of a possibly more temperate climate in the Antilles, since most contemporary species of the genus occur predominantly in the temperate zones of the Nearctic, Palearctic, and Oriental regions. All known species of the genus parasitize bees of the genus Andrena ( sensu lato). Existence of a fossil andrenid, Protandrena eickworti Rozen Jr, of the same Dominican amber, offers evidence of a potential host for this new species of Stylops.

Ecology of interactions between weeds and arthropods.

Weeds and arthropods interact in agricultural systems. Weeds can directly serve as food sources or provide other ecosystem resources for herbivorous arthropods, and indirectly serve carnivorous (beneficial) arthropods by providing food and shelter to their prey. Weeds can serve as alternative hosts for pest and beneficial arthropods when their preferred crop host is absent. Herbivory on crops by pest arthropods reduces the competitive ability of crop plants, leading to increased weed growth. Interactions between weeds and arthropods have several implications to integrated pest management (IPM). Pest and beneficial arthropod populations can be maintained in the absence of crop hosts. This statement also applies to all other pests that use weeds as a food source, including pathogens, nematodes, mollusks, and vertebrates. Weeds outside crop fields that maintain overwintering populations of arthropod pests are the major reason for the development of area-wide IPM programs for certain mobile arthropod pests. Weeds can serve as a source of increased diversity in agroecosystems. Increased diversity has been the rationale for enhancing biological control of arthropod pests through habitat management. The consequences of such approaches are difficult to predict on a multispecies IPM basis.

Integrated pest management (IPM) and Internet-based information delivery systems / Manejo integrado de pragas (MIP) e sistemas de liberação de informação sediados na Internet

A internet permite compartilhar a colaboração e a informação numa escala sem precedentes. Ela tornou-se um meio inédito para a comunicação em pesquisa e extensão. A rede mundial de computadores (World Wide Web - WWW) torna possível a combinação da informação de diferentes sites de umamaneira contínua. O potencial de uso da rede para integrar todo o tipo de informação, estática ou dinâmica, é unico e inédito. A rede permite fazer a interface para todos os tipos de base de dados interativos e para muitos tipos de análises e processamentos de dados on line. Modelos sediados na rede e sistemas para o apoio de decisões (decision support systems - DSS) estão se tornando populares porque poucos ou nenhum programa de sofware é necessário, dessa forma reduzindo o custo de distribuição e manejo de modelos. Nenhum outro meio oferece tais habilidades, como por exemplo, as informações climáticas em tempo quase real, multimidia, processos analíticos, discussão em vias múltiplas e feedback. O manejo integrado de pragas (MIP) é um sistema intensivo em informação. Ambos, a pesquisa em MIP e a sua implementação, requerem o suprimento de informação em tempo útil. A internet fornece meios para estabelecer acomunicação entre os pesquisadores em MIP e os profissionais da extensão e sua clientela, para maximizar a troca de informações e a transferência de tecnologias. A rede WWW abriu uma amplitude de fontes de dados para pesquisa, extensão, ensino e aprendizado em MIP, não concebida antes do advento da internet. O futuro do uso do MIP pela internet é promissor. A troca de informações baseada na internet está rapidamente se tornando um requisito indispensável para implementação de sistemas de MIP locais, regionais ou em áreas abrangentes e em nível internacional.

The Internet enables collaboration and information sharing on an unprecedented scale. It has become a prime medium for research and extension communication. The World Wide Web (WWW) makes it possible to combine information from many different sites in a seamless fashion. Thepotential for using the web to integrate all types of static and interactive (dynamic) information is unique and unprecedented. The web provides excellent interfaces for all kinds of interactive network databases, and many kinds of online analyses and data processing. Web-based models and decision support systems (DSS) are becoming popular because little or no client software is required, thus reducing software management and distribution costs. No other medium offers such ability as simultaneous real-time weather information, multimedia, analytical processing and multi-way discussion and feedback. IPM is an information-intensive system. Both IPM research and implementation requirethe reliable supply of timely information. The Internet provides the means to establish communication links between IPM researchers and extension professionals and their clientele to expedite multi-way exchange of information and technology transfer. The Internet particularly the WWW, has opened up a rich array of data resources for IPM research, extension, teaching, and learning that was not as readilyaccessible before the advent of the Internet. The future of IPM delivery systems through the Internet is promising; internet-based information exchange is quickly becoming an absolute requirement for local, regional/areawide, and international implementation of IPM systems.

Two new species of Crawfordia Pierce from South America, (Strepsiptera: Stylopidae)

Several stylopized specimens were found among the Hymenoptera collection of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). A paper by Kogan & Oliveira (1966) described the parasites of Polybia represented among those specimens. I describe herein the first neotropical species of the genus Crawfordia parasitizing species of Psaenithia (Andrenidae, Panurgini). The presence of vestigial thoracic segmentation of the female cephalothorax is a peculiar trait of this genus of Strepsiptera. Triungulinids are described in detail for the first time in this genus.