A new species of Dicrotendipes (Diptera: Chironomidae) from Costa Rica

The adult male of Dicrotendipes baru is described from the Dominical area of southwestern Costa Rica. The species is characterized by its elongate club-like superior volsella. This species represents the third member of the genus known from Costa Rica.     

The species of Phora (Diptera: Phoridae) of Costa Rica

The Phora of Costa Rica were reviewed and three species, all belonging to Schmitz's Group III, were recognized: P. americana Schmitz and Wirth, P. truncata new species and P. paramericana new species. Of the three species, P. americana is by far the most abundant, with the other two species being rarely collected. All specimens were collected in the central highlands of the country. The previous record of the Holarctic Region species P. stictica Meigen from Costa Rica was found to be based on a misidentification of P. truncata.     

Checklist of the helminth parasites of vertebrates in Costa Rica

Helminth parasites of vertebrates have been studied in Costa Rica for more than 50 years. Survey work on this group of parasites is far from complete. We assembled a database with all the records of helminth parasites of wild and domestic vertebrates in Costa Rica. Information was obtained from different sources such as literature search (all published accounts) and parasite collections. Here we present a checklist with a parasite-host list as well as a host-parasite list. Up to now, 303 species have been recorded, including 81 species of digeneans, 23 monogeneans, 63 cestodes, 12 acanthocephalans, and 124 nematodes. In total, 108 species of vertebrates have been studied for helminths in Costa Rica (31 species of fishes, 7 amphibians, 14 reptiles, 20 birds, and 36 mammals). This represents only 3.8% of the vertebrate fauna of Costa Rica since about 2,855 species of vertebrates occur in the country. Interestingly, 58 species (19.1 %) were recorded as new species from Costa Rica and most of them are endemic to particular regions. Considering the valuable information that parasites provide because it is synergistic with all the information about the natural history of the hosts, helminth parasites of vertebrates in Costa Rica should be considered within any initiatives to accomplish the national inventory of biological resources. Starting with this compilation work, the Colección de Helmintos de Costa Rica (CHCR), hosted at the Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, has re-emerged and it is our hope that it will have the standards of quality to assure that it will become the national depository of helminths in the country.     

Addendum to the checklist of the helminth parasites of vertebrates in Costa Rica

In this work, we present an addendum to the "Checklist of the helminth parasites of vertebrates in Costa Rica" with a parasite-host list as well as a host-parasite list. This addendum updates the available information on this group of parasites in Costa Rica, since very recently a new input has been made to describe the helminth fauna of vertebrates, particularly at the Area de Conservación de Guanacaste. In this paper, we add 33 records, representing 23 species. This raises the number of helminth species described in vertebrates from Costa Rica to 325, represented by 89 species of digeneans, 23 of monogeneans. 63 of cestodes, 13 of acanthocephalans, and 137 of nematodes. In total, 133 species of vertebrates have been studied for helminths in Costa Rica (31 species of fishes. 7 amphibians, 18 reptiles, 40 birds, and 37 mammals). Currently, 67 species (20.6 %) have been recorded as new species from Costa Rica and most of them are endemic to particular regions. The Colecci6n de Helmintos de Costa Rica, housed at the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), San José, is the depositary of only 23% of the species recorded so far; however this situation is changing and people recognizes.     

Polystichum lilianae sp. nov. (Dryopteridaceae) and its relationships to P. fournieri and P. turrialbae

Morphological, isozyme, and cytological analyses of the small, pale-scaled polystichums from oakdominated montane rain forests in Costa Rica and Mexico reveal the presence of a separable undescribed species endemic to the Cordillera de Talamanca of Costa Rica. The new taxon,Polystichum lilianae, is an allotetraploid hypothesized to have the sympatricP. turrialbae as one diploid progenitor based on isozyme characters. The isozyme and morphometric data also support the inclusion ofP. smithii, described from southern Mexico, inP. turrialbae, described from Costa Rica. The namePolystichum fournieri, formerly used for all of these plants, applies to species endemic to Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. It is not a progenitor ofP. lilianae.     

New records of benthic marine algae and Cyanobacteria for Costa Rica,and a comparison with other Central American countries

We present the results of an intensive sampling program carried out from 2000 to 2007 along both coasts of Costa Rica, Central America. The presence of 44 species of benthic marine algae is reported for the first time for Costa Rica. Most of the new records are Rhodophyta (27 spp.), followed by Chlorophyta (15 spp.), and Heterokontophyta, Phaeophycea (2 spp.). Overall, the currently known marine flora of Costa Rica is comprised of 446 benthic marine algae and 24 Cyanobacteria. This species number is an under estimation, and will increase when species of benthic marine algae from taxonomic groups where only limited information is available (e.g., microfilamentous benthic marine algae, Cyanobacteria) are included. The Caribbean coast harbors considerably more benthic marine algae (318 spp.) than the Pacific coast (190 spp.); such a trend has been observed in all neighboring countries. Compared to other Central American countries, Costa Rica has the highest number of reported benthic marine algae; however, Panama may have a similarly high diversity after unpublished results from a Rhodophyta survey (Wysor, unpublished) are included. Sixty-two species have been found along both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Costa Rica; we discuss this result in relation to the emergence of the Central American Isthmus.     

Theletrum lamothei sp. nov. (Digenea), parasite of Echidna nocturna from Cuajiniquil, Guanacaste, and other digenes of marine fishes from Costa Rica.

A new species of Theletrum is described from the intestine of two palenose morays, Echidna nocturna, collected in Cuajiniquil, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. The new species differs from the type species, T. fustiforme Linton, 1910 by having a subspherical pars prostatica, a subspherical seminal vesicle extending anteriorly to the anterior border of the acetabulum, by the presence of a poorly developed hermaphroditic sac, and by having a larger body size. We also report eight additional species of digeneans parasitizing marine fishes in several localities along the Atlantic and Pacific coast of Costa Rica: Bianium simonei, Didymozoinae (metacercariae), Ectenurus virgulus, Hypocreadium myohelicatum, Lecithochirium microstomum, Pseudolecithaster sp., Stephanostomum casum, and Tergestia laticollis. In addition, we present an updated list of helminth parasites of marine fish from Costa Rica and discuss the importance of including parasites as an integral part of biodiversity inventories.     

Marine biodiversity of Costa Rica: Crustacea: Infraorder Anomura

The anomuran crabs are among the best known crustacean groups from the Pacific coast. However, this group is poorly known from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. In this compilation based on the literature and the collection at the Zoology Museum, Biology School, University of Costa Rica, we report the presence of 114 species of the Infraorder Anomura for Costa Rica, 20 species from the Caribbean, 96 species from the Pacific (two are present on both coasts). Twenty-nine species are new reports for Costa Rica, 15 from the Caribbean coast (74% of the total of species from that coast) and 14 from the Pacific (15% of the total from the Pacific). The range often species is extended to Costa Rica, siete from the Caribbean and three from the Pacific. Six species are reported for the first time from Cocos Island, where there are also four endemic species.     

PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF GELIDIALES SPECIES IN COSTA RICA

Despite a general paucity of studies on marine algae in Costa Rica, within the red algal order Gelidiales, 9 species are reported from the Caribbean, and 6 species from the Pacific. In this study 5 species from the southeast Caribbean coast and 2 species from the northwest Pacific coast of Costa Rica were collected for DNA sequence and morphological analyses. At the time of this writing, morphological observations of four Caribbean taxa have identified them as Gelidium microdonticum , Pterocladiella capillacea , P. melanoidea , and Gelidiella acerosa. In rbc L sequence analyses, Gelidium microdonticum is resolved within a clade of small Gelidium species predominantly found in the south Atlantic. Two collections representing different forms of Pterocladiella melanoidea sensu Dawson were found to have identical rbc L sequences. These samples were resolved in rbc L trees with a taxon from Texas identified as P. bartlettii and not P. melanoidea from Europe. Comparisons with type material are being made to verify these identifications so that the status of P. melanoidea in the Caribbean may be determined. The unidentified Caribbean taxon is resolved as a distinct species within the Pterocladiella clade as well. Gelidiella acerosa from Caribbean Costa Rica is closely allied with other Caribbean G. acerosa samples in rbc L trees. The two pacific taxa are small intertidal turf species and have not yet been identified. Sequence analyses resolve these taxa within a large clade of Indo-Pacific and Caribbean Gelidium species.     

Diversity of the free-living marine and freshwater Copepoda (Crustacea) in Costa Rica: a review

The studies on marine copepods of Costa Rica started in the 1990’s and focused on the largest coastal-estuarine systems in the country, particularly along the Pacific coast. Diversity is widely variable among these systems: 40 species have been recorded in the Culebra Bay influenced by upwelling, northern Pacific coast, only 12 in the Gulf of Nicoya estuarine system, and 38 in Golfo Dulce, an anoxic basin in the southern Pacific coast of the country. Freshwater environments of Costa Rica are known to harbor a moderate diversity of continental copepods (25 species), which includes 6 calanoids, 17 cyclopoids and only two harpacticoids. Of the +100 freshwater species recorded in Central America, six are known only from Costa Rica, and one appears to be endemic to this country. The freshwater copepod fauna of Costa Rica is clearly the best known in Central America. Overall, six of the 10 orders of Copepoda are reported from Costa Rica. A previous summary by 2001 of the free-living copepod diversity in the country included 80 marine species (67 pelagic, 13 benthic). By 2009, the number of marine species increased to 209: 164 from the Pacific (49% of the copepod fauna from the Eastern Tropical Pacific) and 45 from the Caribbean coast (8% of species known from the Caribbean Basin). Both the Caribbean and Pacific species lists are growing. Additional collections of copepods at Cocos Island, an oceanic island 530 km away of the Pacific coast, have revealed many new records, including five new marine species from Costa Rica. Currently, the known diversity of marine copepods of Costa Rica is still in development and represents up to 52.6% of the total marine microcrustaceans recorded in the country. Future sampling and taxonomic efforts in the marine habitats should emphasize oceanic environments including deep waters but also littoral communities. Several Costa Rican records of freshwater copepods are likely to represent undescribed species. Also, the biogeographic relevance of the inland copepod fauna of Costa Rica requires more detailed surveys.     

Some Entolomataceae (Agaricales) from Costa Rica

A preliminary account of Entolomataceae from Costa Rica is presented. Three new taxa are described, two inClitopilus, one inRhodocybe, and three new combinations are proposed inInocephalus. Five taxa ofClitopilus are reported for the first time from Costa Rica and a key to species is provided. Four species ofRhodocybe are discussed and a key to the six species known from Costa Rica is also provided.Alboleptonia earlei, Inocephalus murraii, Inocephalus quadratum, Rhodocybe incarnata andRhodocybe pseudonitellina are now known to occur in Costa Rica.     

A synopsis of Costa Rican Ruellia (Acanthaceae), with descriptions of four new species

We describe four new species of Ruellia from Costa Rica; three from the Osa Peninsula, Puntarenas province (R. exilis, R. mira, R. odorata), and one from the southwestern corner of San José province (R. norvegigratiosa). Ruellia matagalpae is reported as a new record for the country. New combinations are made in Ruellia for the two Costa Rican species of Blechum (R. blechum and R. costaricensis). Three species are reduced to synonymy, and another species is considered doubtfully worthy of recognition. Notable range extensions are reported for two species. Corollas and fruits of all 22 Costa Rican species of Ruellia are shown and compared as easily used identification aids. An informal guide to species groups and a dichotomous key to the 22 species are presented.     

Reports in Pteridaceae (Filacales) family in the Neotropics

Several contributions to the Neotropical pteridophyte flora are made in this paper with the range extensions for four species of Adiantum, two species of Doryopteris and one species of Eriosorus. The species concerned are: A. polyphyllum Willd. for Nicaragua and Costa Rica; A. trichochlaenum Mickel et Beitel for Guatemala and Costa Rica; A. villosissimum Mett. ex Kuhn for Costa Rica; A. wilesianum Hook. for Nicaragua; D. nobilis (T. Moore) C. Chr. for Costa Rica, Colombia and Venezuela; D. redivida Fée for Panama; and E. hirtus (Kunth) Copel. for Costa Rica. The concept of D. pedata (L.) Fée is redefined.     

The classification, evolution and biology of the Costa Rican species of Cryptophion (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

The six known Costa Rican species of the campoplegine ichneumonid genus Cryptophion Viereck are described and keyed. The distribution of species throughout Costa Rica is detailed based on data gathered by an intensive Malaise trap survey of the ichneumonids of the country. Five new species are recognized: C. espinozai. C. guillermoi, C. manueli. C. moragai and C. tickelli , and a sixth, C. inaequalipes (Cresson) redescribed. The monophyly of the genus is demonstrated and the phylogeny of the Costa Rican species reconstructed. Host relationships have been established for all species in Costa Rica; they develop as koinobiont endoparasitoids of first to third instar larvae of Sphingidae or Saturniidae. Analysis of the host relationships from a phylogenetic perspective suggested that the genus first evolved using macroglossine sphingid larvae feeding on rubiaceous understorey plants as hosts, and subsequently diversified to utilize sphingine sphingids and ceratocampine saturniids feeding on a variety of food-plants. Most species appear to be monophagous and oligophagy is apparently a derived feature of one sister-species pair, C. espinozai and C. manueli . In Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica, only a small proportion of the species of Saturniidae and Sphingidae present are used as hosts by Cryptophion species. No one host species is parasitized by more than one Cryptophion species. No species of Cryptophion is known to parasitize more than one host species feeding on any one plant species. The monophagous species C. inaequalipes is only known to develop in its sphingid host when that host is feeding on one of its two alternative food-plants.     

A new genus of oak gallwasp, Coffeikokkos Pujade-Villar & Melika, gen. n., with a description of a new species from Costa Rica (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae)

A new genus of oak gallwasp, Coffeikokkos Pujade-Villar & Melika, gen. n., is described from Costa Rica. Diagnostic characters and generic limits of the new genus are discussed in detail. The new genus includes Coffeikokkos copeyensis Pujade-Villar & Melika, sp. n., which induces galls on stems of Quercus bumelioides, an endemic oak to Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama. The new species and galls are described and illustrated.     

The Phyllodonta latrata (Guenée) species group in Costa Rica (Geometridae,Ennominae)

Historically, the name Phyllodonta latrata (Guenée) has been applied to what is a complex of three undescribed species in Costa Rica. They are very similar in maculation, but can be differentiated by genitalic characters and barcodes. P. alajuela Sullivan, sp. n. occurs at lower altitudes in the northwestern part of Costa Rica whereas P. intermediata Sullivan, sp. n. and P. esperanza Sullivan, sp. n. are found at partially overlapping altitudes in the central mountain ranges.     

Mites of the genus Neharpyrhynchus Fain (Acariformes, Harpirhynchidae) from Neotropical birds

Three new species of parasitic mites of the genus Neharpyrhynchus Fain (Acariformes, Harpirhynchidae) are described from Neotropical birds: Neharpyrhynchus chlorospingussp. n. from Chlorospingus pileatus (Passeriformes, Emberizidae) from Costa Rica, Neharpyrhynchus mironovisp. n. from Dacnys cayana (Passeriformes, Thraupidae) and Neharpyrhynchus tangarasp. n. from Tangara cayana (Thraupidae) both from Brazil. Neharpyrhynchus trochilinus (Fain) is recorded from 3 new host species of the family Trochilidae (Apodiformes), Panterpe insignis and Eugenes fulgens from Costa Rica, and Amazilia lactea from Brazil. Emended diagnosis of the genus and a key to species are provided; all records of Neharpyrhynchus species are summarized.     

Scarlet Macaw, Ara macao, (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae) diet in Central Pacific Costa Rica

From 1993 to 1997, we observed Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) feeding behavior in Central Pacific Costa Rica. Feeding data acquired in this study were not collected systematically, but opportunistically whenever macaws were observed feeding. To supplement feeding observations, we conducted interviews with local residents. Scarlet Macaws fed on seeds, fruits, leaves, flowers and/or bark of 43 plant species. Various plant parts eaten by macaws from several tree species contain secondary compounds toxic to humans, and additional species included in their diet are nonnative, introduced for agricultural purposes. Important macaw feeding tree species are Ceiba pentandra, Schizolobium parahybum, and Hura crepitans; these species are also crucial to this macaw population because of nest cavities they provide. The results of this study contribute to the conservation of Scarlet Macaws in Central Pacific Costa Rica through promoting protection of individual trees, and through local elementary school reforestation programs focusing on tree species that macaws use for feeding and/or nesting. Scarlet Macaw conservation is extremely important, as numerous population pressures have caused significant declines in macaw numbers in Costa Rica.     

Rediscovery of Hyalinobatrachium chirripoi (Anura: Centrolenidae) in southeastern Costa Rica

The Suretka glass frog, Hyalinobatrachium chirripoi, has been recently rediscovered in the southeastern region of Costa Rica. This species was last reported in Costa Rica in the 1950's. H. chirripoi is distinguished from H. colymbiphyllum, which appears to be its most closely Costa Rican related taxon, by having extensive webbing between fingers II-III.