Direct PCR allows the amplification of DNA from animal or plant tissue samples without need for extraction and purification steps. For this procedure, dry is homogenized, dissolved in water subsequently amplified, thus, its successful application largely depends on absence inhibitors. Although method has been successfully applied barcoding approaches invertebrates, it not yet attempted metabarc...

First, experiments were tested for a new method concerning analyses of crop contents in liquosomatophagous animals. Disc-electrophoretic separations of the crop contents of Helobdella stagnalis yielded protein patterns typical for the number of bands and for the relative mobilities in these Chironomid larvae, on which H. stagnalis were fed. Additionally, slowly migrating bands occurred in the s...

The Oomycete fungus Crypticola clavulifera was pathogenic for laboratory-reared and field-collected larval Diptera, including the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, Ae. notoscriptus, Anopheles farauti No. 1 and 3, Culex annulirostris, Cx. quinquefasciatus and the chironomid midge Chironomus tepperi. Zoospores were produced in water held at 15, 20 and 25 degrees C and were pathogenic for Ae. aegypti larv...

Bioturbation/bioirrigation can affect the remobilization of metals from sediments. In this study, experiments were performed to examine the effect of bioturbation/bioirrigation by different organisms on cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) releasing from the spiked sediment. The diffusive gradient in thin films technique (DGT) revealed that at the end of exposure time, the labile ...

The fauna inhabiting a small area (ca. 5 cm  5 cm) were investigated in a Scots pine stand. After microstratification of the litter layers in the field and fixation in 95% ethyl alcohol, invertebrates, mainly mesofauna, were sorted under a dissecting microscope and mounted or dissected in order to study their intestinal guts. Faeces were mounted or sectioned to obtain information about the act...

OBJECTIVE The ability of the native larvivorous fish Aplocheilus panchax (Hamilton, 1822) (Cyprinodontiformes: Aplocheilidae) as predator of mosquito larvae was assessed under laboratory conditions using multiple prey and habitat conditions. METHODS The consumption of larvae of the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus Say 1823 (Diptera: Culicidae) by A. panchax was evaluated in the presence of tub...

The Chironomidae family is one of the main groups of aquatic insects present in streams. This work aimed to investigate the influences of anthropogenic pressures and substrate types on chironomid community composition and structure. Chironomid larvae were collected during the summer of 2007 at four sites along the Vacacaí-Mirim River microbasin, chosen based on the different available benthic s...