Phytotelmata in tank-forming Bromeliaceae plants are regarded as potential miniature models for aquatic ecology, but detailed investigations of their microbial communities are rare. Hence, the biogeochemistry in bromeliad tanks remains poorly understood. Here we investigate the structure of bacterial and archaeal communities inhabiting the detritus within the tanks of two bromeliad species, Aec...

Corethrella borkenti sp. n. is described, based on female and male adults, pupae and larvae, collected from tank bromeliads in the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil. The larva and pupa of C. alticola Lane, 1939 are described for the first time. New distributional records for C. alticola and C. vittata Lane, 1939 extend their distributions to the southern Atlantic Forest. A key to pupae of peru...

Bromeliaceae arose in the Early Cretaceous, diverging from Typhaceae at ca. 125 Ma. After an apparent evolutionary stasis of 100 million years, they have undergone a high diversification starting Miocene. By adding fossils to phylogenies, one can infer dates arising and divergence lineages link them geological climatic events. The use reliable fossils, therefore, greatly impact results interpre...

The syrphid subfamily Microdontinae is characterized by myrmecophily of their immature stages, i.e., they develop in ant nests. Data on natural history of microdontines are scarce, especially in the Neotropics. Based on fieldwork in southern Brazil, this study provided new data on development and ecology of the hoverfly Pseudomicrodon biluminiferus (Hull) (Diptera: Syrphidae) as well as the fir...

Mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) inhabiting foliar tanks of Guzmania brasiliensis Ule (Bromeliaceae) in central Amazonia, Brazil. Mosquitoes in the family Culicidae develop their immature forms in different environments depending on various circumstances. This study represents the first contribution to the ecological knowledge of culicids living in the bromeliad G. brasiliensis. The objectives o...