Abstract Research on environmental perception is essential for the understanding of individuals’ relations and expectations towards natural environments. Here, we evaluated the perception of high school students on exotic and native species in Brazil. We interviewed 371 students from two high schools located in the state of Goiás, one with and one without a protected area within its premises. Students needed to identify native and exotic species and to indicate species origin. We used a t-test to evaluate differences between students’ scores regarding the correctness of species origin and also ANOVA to assess whether these scores varied among taxonomic groups. Students identified exotic species better than native ones. Students better identified exotic mammals, fishes, and birds than native ones. We found there were no significant relationships of students’ knowledge of species’ origins with socioecological factors. Students’ perceptions of exotic and native species were low and focused on charismatic large-bodied species. We suggest that students are encouraged to expand their knowledge of local biodiversity. Teachers, local schools, and policymakers are essential to achieve this aim. A more diverse methodology for teaching, including new technologies and citizen-science projects, can help establish a genuine interest of local biodiversity students.

No presente trabalho foram estudados os ácaros associados a plantas ornamentais de praças, ruas e jardins residenciais, no município de Ilha Solteira, SP. Foram amostradas folhas de 20 espécies de plantas e alguns representantes das morfoespécies de ácaros encontrados foram montados em lâminas de microscopia com o meio de Hoyer, para posterior identificação sob microscópio óptico com contraste de fases. Foram registradas 23 espécies pertencentes a 15 gêneros de oito famílias. Dessas espécies, 13 são fitófagas, nove predadoras e uma de hábito alimentar não determinado. A família com maior riqueza de ácaros foi Tetranychidae, com nove espécies, sendo uma delas registrada pela primeira vez após a descrição original e outra pela primeira vez no Brasil. Lorryia formosa Cooremann, 1958 (Tydeidae) foi a que ocorreu em maior número de hospedeiros. As plantas com as maiores riquezas de ácaros foram Lagerstroemia indica L., Mussaenda alicia Hort. e Tabebuia sp., com seis espécies registradas em cada uma.

Phytophagous mites living on ornamental plants growing in parks, streets and residential gardens from Ilha Solteira, State of São Paulo, were studied. Leaves of 20 plant species were sampled and some specimens of the different morphospecies found were mounted in microscopy slides with Hoyer's medium for posterior identification under phase contrast microscope. Twenty three species belonging to 15 genera of eight families were recorded. From these, 13 species are phytophagous, nine are predator and one is of unknown feeding habits. The family Tetranychidae presented the highest richness, with nine species registered, being one of these recorded for the first time after the original description and another one being registered for the first time in Brazil. Lorryia formosa Cooremann, 1958 (Tydeidae) occurred on the highest number of hosts. The host plants that harbored the highest number of mite species were Lagerstroemia indica L., Mussaenda alicia Hort. and Tabebuia sp., with six species recorded on each.

Foi estudada a acarofauna associada a Bauhinia variegata L., espécie introduzida no Brasil como ornamental. Dois exemplares dessa planta foram amostrados mensalmente, de maio de 2000 a abril de 2001. Foram registrados 8.482 ácaros, pertencentes a 25 espécies de 11 famílias. Os fitófagos foram os mais abundantes, sendo Lorryia formosa Cooreman a espécie dominante. A dominância de L. formosa foi provavelmente influenciada pela condição de estresse das plantas amostradas e pela baixa quantidade de ácaros predadores sobre estas plantas.

The occurrence of mites on Bauhinia variegata L., a species introduced in Brazil as ornamental, was studied. Two plants of this species were sampled monthly from May 2000 to April 2001. A total of 8,482 mites, belonging to 25 species in 11 families were collected. The abundance of phytophagous mites was higher, being Lorryia formosa Cooreman the dominant species. The dominance of L. formosa might be caused by stress conditions of sampled plants and low number of predaceous mites on those plants.

Amostrou-se mensalmente, durante 2001, ácaros de Mabea fistulifera Mart. em dois fragmentos de mata, um urbano e outro rural. Em cada local e coleta, foram coletadas 20 folhas de cada um de três exemplares de M. fistulifera. As folhas foram examinadas sob estereomicroscópio e todos os ácaros encontrados, montados em lâminas e identificados e contados sob microscópio com contraste de fase. A diversidade e a uniformidade de espécies foram analisadas através dos índices de Shannon-Wiener e Pielou, respectivamente. O índice de similaridade de Morisita-Horn foi utilizado para determinar o grau de semelhança entre as áreas. A diversidade máxima teórica e a constância também foram determinadas. O índice de correlação de Pearson foi utilizado para verificar possíveis relações entre a abundância de ácaros com a pluviosidade. No fragmento urbano foram coletados 6326 ácaros pertencentes a 31 espécies, e no rural, 2330 ácaros de 25 espécies. Nos dois fragmentos, a diversidade excedeu 50% da diversidade máxima teórica, entretanto, no rural verificou-se maior diversidade. Registrou-se também, grande abundância de fitófagos, que foi maior no urbano, provavelmente como resultado do estresse das plantas favorecendo o desenvolvimento dos fitófagos. Alguns predadores apresentaram grande abundância durante a floração de M. fistulifera, provavelmente por utilizarem o pólen como alimento. A maior abundância de Euseius citrifolius Denmark & Muma, na estação seca, pode estar correlacionada com a maior disponibilidade de pólen, e não com a menor pluviosidade do período.

The mites on Mabea fistulifera Mart. in two forest fragments, urban and rural, were sampled monthly during 2001. For each site and each sampling date, 20 leaves were taken from each one of three trees. The leaves were inspected under dissecting microscope and all mites collected were mounted on slides, identified and counted by using a phase contrast microscope. Diversity and eveness were analyzed using the Shannon-Wiener and Pielou index, respectively. The Morisita-Horn index described similarities between the two sites. The Maximum Theoretical Diversity and Constancy index were also determined. Possible relationships between mite abundance and rainfall were investigated by Pearson correlation. The urban area had 6326 mites belonging to 31 species, while the rural area had 2330 individuals of 25 species. In both sites, the diversity exceeded 50% of the maximum theoretical diversity, but, the rural area showed higher diversity. Both sites had abundant phytophagous mites, however the abundance was higher in the urban fragment, as a result of plant stress that created more favorable conditions for phyphagous to develop. Some predaceous showed high abundance when the trees flowered. This occurs because some phytoseiids can use pollen as food. The only significant (negative) correlation was observed between rainfall and the population of Euseius citrifolius Denmark & Muma. However, the higher population of E. citrifolius on M. fistulifera in the dry season could be mostly due to the larger abundance of pollen in that period.

The mites of three rubber tree cultures (Cedral, Pindorama and Taquaritinga) in order to determine the abundance of populations, the richness, the diversity and the degree of similarity among the communities was studied. Twenty one species were found, five of which were common to the three cultures. The richness and the abundance were greatest at the beginning of the dry season. The composition of communities differed probably as consequence of the kind of neighboring vegetation to each area, and because of the acaricid pulverization on the culture of Taquaritinga, reductng the richness of mite species in that area. The influence of neighboring vegetation can be shown by the occurrence of Iphiseiodes zuluagui Denmark & Muma, 1972, a common species to citrus trees, on neighboring rubber trees in Taquaritinga, and Tenuipalpus heveae Baker, 1945, a common species on rubber trees, on a coffee culture neighbor to the rubber trees of Pindorama. This data suggests that mites move among neighbor cultures, and can be an importam factor towards pest management and control. The diversity was small on the three cultures, as a result of the occurrence of one dominam species on each area, Calacarus heveae Feres, 1992 or T. heveae, which are considered pests of the rubber tree. The small diversity and the occurrence of dominant species are patterns expected in monocultures, systems with small environmental heterogeneity.