High diversity of bees detected in guarana crop and natural habitat due to the use of combined sampling methods

Bees are the main pollinators of native and agricultural plants. Identifying and knowing these insects responsible for the environmental service of pollination is essential for the maintenance and management of pollination in agricultural systems, especially in a high diversity biome as the Amazon rainforest. Some crops in this region are dependent of benefited by wild pollinators, especially native plants like guarana. To address methodological aspects of monitoring bee diversity, samplings were carried out in an agricultural environment (guarana crop, Paullinia cupana) surrounded by Amazon natural habitat at Manaus, Amazonas State. We used three combined methods (two passive traps: Malaise and yellow pan-traps, and one active: hand nets) in different periods, with the same number of samplings (12 each). In total, 4,143 native bees belonging to 171 species were sampled; 117 species (1,926 individuals) were collected with Malaise trap, 15 (91 individuals) with pan-traps, and 114 (2,126 individuals) through active sampling. Only seven species were common to all methods, 60 species on two methods and 104 species were unique to one sampling method (50 with Malaise, two with pan-traps, and 52 with hand nets). We reinforce the need for complementary sampling to known bee diversity as the best strategy here was the joint use of active samples and Malaise traps. Recently the concern with Amazon preservation has aroused worldwide interest, a fact that shreds of evidence the need for studies of biodiversity and taxonomy in several areas, since very little is known of this vast region.

First report of the phytoseiid mite Neoparaphytoseius charapa Jiménez, McMurtry & Moraes, 2014 (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to Brazil, with notes on the occurrence of the genus

Phytoseiid mites collected on Inga edulis L. (Leguminosae) in three localities in the Amazonas State, Brazil, were identified as Neoparaphytoseius charapa Jiménez, McMurtry & Moraes, 2014. This is the first report of this species in Brazil. Notes on geographic occurrence and association of Neoparaphytoseius Chant & McMurtry, 2003 species with host plants are presented.

Diversity and distribution of lichens from the Cerro Duida and adjacent areas, Alto Orinoco, Amazonas, Venezuela

Increasing temperature and changing land-use in the Guayana Shield and Amazonia result in an accelerated decline of sensitive lichen populations. Monitoring of these populations by biological plot inventories in particularly vulnerable sites is urgently needed. In order to know the diversity and distribution of lichen species at the Alto Orinoco, Parque Nacional Duida-Marahuaca and nearby areas from Amazonas state, Venezuela, lichens were sampled during four expeditions in more than 40 plots located from 200 m (premontane forest) to more than 1500 m elevation (altotepuyana vegetation). Additional data were obtained from literature and herbaria. Our assessment, although incomplete, revealed 205 described species, 150 undescribed species, 84 genera and 27 families. Among the described species 162 were observed in the basimontane vegetation, 38 in the montane vegetation, 24 in the altotepuyana vegetation, while 20 appear to be endemic to the study area. Sixty-nine species are new records for the Cerro Duida. A checklist with taxonomic and ecological data is presented. Five new species and one new variety are described: Cladonia duidana V.Marcano & A.Morales sp. nov. (Cladoniaceae), Pertusaria orinoquensis V.Marcano sp. nov., Sticta kunuhana V.Marcano sp. nov. (Lobariaceae), S. spruceana V.Marcano sp. nov. (Lobariaceae), Xanthoparmelia esmeraldensis V.Marcano & A.Morales sp. nov. (Parmeliaceae), and Lepraria arbuscula (Nyl.) Lendemer & Hodk. var. fumarprotocetrarica V.Marcano var. nov.

Land use dynamics under the Bolsa Floresta Program: a case study of the Uatumã Sustainable Development Reserve (Amazonas, Brazil)

ABSTRACT The effectiveness of a program of payment for environmental services (PES) in the Brazilian Amazon was analyzed through an accurate mapping of deforested areas. The Bolsa Floresta Program (BFP) in Amazonas state (Brazil) was chosen as an example of a PES program that aims to compensate farmers for their commitment to zero deforestation of primary forests while opening swiddens only in secondary vegetation areas. However, the official measurement of opened swiddens is not effective since only deforested areas larger than 6.25 ha are mapped, whereas most areas opened for cassava crops are approximately 1 ha in size. The effectiveness of the BFP was evaluated in the Uatumã Sustainable Development Reserve (SDR). We tested a methodology for mapping areas from 0.45 ha upwards that have been opened for cassava swiddens. The years 2006 (before the implementation of the BFP), 2011, 2015 and 2019 were analyzed. The results indicated that 88% of the areas opened for swiddens were between 0.45 and 6.25 ha in size. After the implantation of the BFP, the cumulative total deforested area decreased, and there was a reduction in deforested areas in primary forests. An intensification of swidden cultivation was also observed, which could cause a decline in productivity. The monitoring by land-use zoning showed that the majority of opened areas were located in intensive use zones, following the rules of the SDR management plan. The results show the efforts of local families to fulfill the BFP rules.

First record of Loisirella Holzinger, Holzinger & Egger, 2013 and description of a new species from Brazil (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae)

A second species of the genus Loisirella Holzinger, Holzinger & Egger, 2013, L. xanthosa sp. nov., is described from Amazonas State, Brazil. The new species can be distinguished from L. erwini Holzinger, Holzinger & Egger, 2013, type species of the genus, by the coloration of the body and wing and male genitalia. This species represents the first record of Loisirella from Brazil.

Re-emergence of Gamma-like-II and emergence of Gamma-S:E661D SARS-CoV-2 lineages in the south of Brazil after the 2021 outbreak

Background We report a genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in Paraná, southern Brazil, from March 2020 to April 2021. Our analysis, based on 333 genomes, revealed that the first variants detected in the state of Paraná in March 2020 were the B.1.1.33 and B.1.1.28 variants. The variants B.1.1.28 and B.1.1.33 were predominant throughout 2020 until the introduction of the variant P.2 in August 2020 and a variant of concern (VOC), Gamma (P.1), in January 2021. The VOC Gamma, a ramification of the B.1.1.28 lineage first detected in Manaus (northern Brazil), has grown rapidly since December 2020 and was thought to be responsible for the deadly second wave of COVID-19 throughout Brazil. Methods The 333 genomic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from March 2020 to April 2021 were generated as part of the genomic surveillance carried out by Fiocruz in Brazil Genomahcov Fiocruz. SARS-CoV-2 sequencing was performed using representative samples from all geographic areas of Paraná. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using the 333 genomes also included other SARS-CoV-2 genomes from the state of Paraná and other states in Brazil that were deposited in the GISAID. In addition, the time-scaled phylogenetic tree was constructed with up to 3 random sequences of the Gamma variant from each state in Brazil in each month of 2021. In this analysis we also added the sequences identified as the B.1.1.28 lineage of the Amazonas state and and the Gamma-like-II (P.1-like-II) lineage identified in different regions of Brazil. Results Phylogenetic analyses of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes that were previously classified as the VOC Gamma lineage by WHO/PANGO showed that some genomes from February to April 2021 branched in a monophyletic clade and that these samples grouped together with genomes recently described with the lineage Gamma-like-II. Additionally, a new mutation (E661D) in the spike (S) protein has been identified in nearly 10% of the genomes classified as the VOC Gamma from Paraná in March and April 2021.Finally, we analyzed the correlation between the lineage and the Gamma variant frequency, age group (patients younger or older than 60 years old) and the clinical data of 86 cases from the state of Paraná. Conclusions Our results provided a reliable picture of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the state of Paraná characterized by the dominance of the Gamma strain, as well as a high frequencies of the Gamma-like-II lineage and the S:E661D mutation. Epidemiological and genomic surveillance efforts should be continued to unveil the biological relevance of the novel mutations detected in the VOC Gamma in Paraná.

Model-based estimation of transmissibility and reinfection of SARS-CoV-2 P.1 variant

Background The SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC) P.1 (Gamma variant) emerged in the Amazonas State, Brazil, in November 2020. The epidemiological consequences of its mutations have not been widely studied, despite detection of P.1 in 36 countries, with local transmission in at least 5 countries. A range of mutations are seen in P.1, ten of them in the spike protein. It shares mutations with VOCs previously detected in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7, Alpha variant) and South Africa (B.1.351, Beta variant). Methods We estimated the transmissibility and reinfection of P.1 using a model-based approach, fitting data from the national health surveillance of hospitalized individuals and frequency of the P.1 variant in Manaus from December-2020 to February-2021. Results Here we estimate that the new variant is about 2.6 times more transmissible (95% Confidence Interval: 2.4–2.8) than previous circulating variant(s). Manaus already had a high prevalence of individuals previously affected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and our fitted model attributed 28% of Manaus cases in the period to reinfections by P.1, confirming the importance of reinfection by this variant. This value is in line with estimates from blood donors samples in Manaus city. Conclusions Our estimates rank P.1 as one of the most transmissible among the SARS-CoV-2 VOCs currently identified, and potentially as transmissible as the posteriorly detected VOC B.1.617.2 (Delta variant), posing a serious threat and requiring measures to control its global spread.

A new minute riffle beetle (Coleoptera: Elmidae: Pagelmis) from the Brazilian Amazon

The monotypic genus Pagelmis Spangler, 1981 was described from six thousand specimens of Pagelmis amazonica Spangler, 1981 collected with blacklight traps in Ecuador. For many years the known distribution of this genus was restricted to its type-locality, and recently it was recorded in Venezuela, Suriname and Brazil (Roraima State). Now, 40 years after the description of the genus, we describe the second Pagelmis species, based on male and female collected in the Amazon forest (Amazonas State, Brazil). With the description of the second species in the genus we provide an emended diagnosis of Pagelmis. Since adults of this genus were previously collected only in light traps, no habitat information was known. We collected adults of the new species in the first- and second-order streams with black, acidic water and sandy streambeds. The main substrates available in these streams were leaves and roots of riparian vegetation.

Descriptive study of intestinal parasites in a municipality of the western Brazilian Amazon

Intestinal parasites are among the most prevalent infections in humans. A cross-sectional survey was performed in a Canutama, Amazonas state, Brazil, in order to estimate the prevalence of intestinal parasites. The detection of parasites in the feces was performed using the Lutz method. Demographic data and the characteristics of the households were collected using a questionnaire. The prevalence of parasites was 36.9%. Ascaris lumbricoides (7.14%) was the most prevalent. The absence of a sewage network, consumption of raw vegetables and raw meat are risk factors for contracting intestinal parasitosis. We reported a prevalence of intestinal parasites and determined some of the risk factors.

Discovery of Kribiodorum Kieffer (Diptera: Chironomidae) in the Neotropical region: a new species from Brazilian Amazon rainforest

Kribiodorum is a small genus of non-biting midges, currently composed of only five nominal species, one Nearctic, two African and two Oriental. The objective of this study is to provide the first report of this genus to the Neotropical region and to describe a new species, based on male and female from southern Amazonas state, Brazil. Kribiodorum amazonicum sp. n. is easily distinguished from the congeneric species by the color pattern of the wings and legs and by the morphology of the genitalia.