Changes in Brazilian Drosophilidae (Diptera) assemblages across an urbanisation gradient.

Comparison of Drosophilidae (Diptera) assemblages from two highland Araucaria Forest fragments, with and without environmental conservation policies.

Flies from the Drosophilidae family are model organisms for biological studies and are often suggested as bioindicators of environmental quality. The Araucaria Forest, one of Atlantic Forest phyto-physiognomy, displays a highly fragmented distribution due to the expansion of agriculture and urbanization. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate and compare the drosophilid assemblages from two highland...

Taxonomic survey of Drosophilidae (Diptera) from mangrove forests of Santa Catarina Island, Southern Brazil.

Assemblages of drosophilids have been characterised in several environments of the Brazilian territory, like the Atlantic Rain Forest, urban areas, cerrados, the Amazon Forest, and others. The present survey is the first attempt to characterise the fauna of Drosophilidae in mangrove forests, an environment typical of tropical coasts worldwide. Twenty-eight samples were collected from the three ...

Changes in carabid beetle assemblages across an urban-rural gradient in Japan

As part of the international Globenet project, carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) were collected using pitfall traps from four urban, four suburban and four rural sites in Hiroshima City, Japan, during the 2001 summer season. In agreement with expectation, carabid abundance and species richness decreased significantly from rural to urban sites. Furthermore, no large, and only few individua...

First occurrence of parasitoid Spalangia endius (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) in pupae of Zaprionus indianus Gupta (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Brazil.

This paper reports the first occurrence of the parasitoid Spalangia endius collected in pupae of Zaprionus indianus using traps with fruit bait. The experiment was carried out at the University of Lavras in Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil, from November to December, 2001. A total of 4 Spalangia endius specimens were obtained from 105 Zaprionus indianus pupae. The overall prevalence of parasitism w...

Directional changes in plant assemblages along an altitudinal gradient in northeast Brazil.