Abstract Terrestrial runoff is a source of sediments and nutrients to coral reefs. Due to runoff, Brazilian reefs are typically turbid, and have coral species that are naturally turbidity-resistant. This study investigated how terrestrial input influences population and physiology for the coral Favia gravida on two reefs with differences in river mouth proximity in eastern Brazil. The population structure and physiological traits of F. gravida colonies were assessed on both reefs, then some colonies selected for a subsequent transplantation experiment. The reef less impacted by terrestrial influence showed higher population density and lower recruitment. At this site, the coral colonies displayed higher calcification and larger larvae. The reproductive effort between coral populations at the two sites showed no significant difference. The transplantation experiment confirmed the high physiological plasticity of F. gravida colonies at the more turbid reef site. Despite being regarded as a more challenging environment, where F. gravida has a lower population density, the reef closer to the river mouth appears to secure more nutrients, which may heterotrophically compensate its coral colonies.

ABSTRACT Larvae of many-plumed moths (Alucitidae), especially in the world-wide genus Alucita Linnaeus, 1758 are known as borers or gall-inducers on flowers, fruits and shoots of a few dicotyledonous families, including Bignoniaceae, Caprifoliaceae and Rubiaceae. However, there is no study available on the biology of the monotypic, Neotropical genus Prymnotomis Meyrick, 1931 except for its original description that was based on a single male, the holotype of Prymnotomis crypsicroca Meyrick, 1931 from Espirito Santo, Brazil. We describe here a second species for this genus, Prymnotomis cecidicola sp. nov. whose larvae induce galls on Cordiera elliptica (Cham.) Kuntze (Rubiaceae), a dioecious plant with dimorphic inflorescences found in the Brazilian Cerrado, Planaltina City, Federal District. Adults, larvae, pupae and galls are illustrated under light and scanning electron microscopy. Galls are green, spherical, unilocular and develop individually on C. elliptica flower buds. During development they look like fruits in shape and colour but are larger, do not have style scars when on female plants, and are induced also in male inflorescences. Pupation occurs outside the gall within a silk cocoon, presumably in the litter. A preliminary analysis of DNA barcode sequences including putative members of other alucitid lineages and Neotropical BINs (Barcode Index Number) supports Prymnotomis cecidicola sp. nov. as an independent phylogenetic unit, with 12 to 18% divergence. Its nearest-neighbour was the BIN cluster 5 (BOLD:AAA0842) that includes specimens from Costa Rica.

ABSTRACT Stigmella schinivora van Nieukerken, 2016 was described from Cataratas de Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina, based on adults reared from Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae) leaf mines. The aim of this study is to describe for the first time the external morphology of the immature stages of S. schinivora with the aid of light and scanning electron microscopy, based on mines collected on the same host plant, but in Laranjeiras do Sul, Paraná, Brazil. Data on natural history, including histology of the mines, are also provided. The larva passes through four instars, all endophytic, having chewing mouth parts and feeding on the palisade parenchyma. The first three instars are apodous and have a subcylindrical body, bearing only one pair of setae on the tenth abdominal segment; the fourth instar is eruciform, with well-developed ambulatory calli on thorax and abdomen and setae on all tagmata. A serpentine mine is constructed on the adaxial surface, progressively increasing in width during larval development. With the exception of the widened, terminal section, the mine is left filled with larval feces. The fully developed larva of last instar exits through a slit made at the distal end of the mine, building a silk cocoon on the leaf abaxial surface where pupation occurs. This is the first record of S. schinivora from Brazil, which was only known from the type locality in Argentina.

ABSTRACT The Neotropical micromoth genus Leurocephala Davis & Mc Kay, 2011 (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) was originally described to include only the type species, L. schinusae Davis & Mc Kay, 2011, whose leaf miner larvae are associated with Anacardiaceae in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. An integrative analysis including morphology, life history and DNA barcode sequences revealed that specimens collected on Schinus molle L. (Anacardiaceae) in the coastal valleys of the Atacama Desert of northern Chile belong to a second species of this formerly monotypic genus. Adults of Leurocephala chilensis Vargas & Moreira sp. nov. are herein described and illustrated in association with the immature stages and life history, and corresponding phylogenetic relationships are assessed based on DNA barcode sequences. This finding provides the first record of Leurocephala from west of the Andes Range, expanding remarkably its geographic range. It is suggested that the extent of diversity within Leurocephala is much greater and that variation in geographic factors and host plant use may have modeled it, an evolutionary hypothesis that should be assessed in further studies.