Revision of the Natada fusca complex and description of six new neotropical species (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae)

Six new species in the genus Natada, which have been hidden under Natada fusca Druce, are described and defined primarily by genitalia. New species include N. burnsi, N. truncata, N. singulara, N. chaconi, N. covelli, and N. confusa. Five of eight species in the Natada fusca complex, which also includes N. fuscodivisa Dognin, occur in Costa Rica. Distribution of the complex ranges from Mexico to the upper Amazon Basin and Guianas. Detailed geographic information and multiple genitalic drawings of males of one species, N. confusa, are provided to help define and separate species. The lectotype and paralectotype of N. fusca are designated.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Biology and systematics of the New World Phyllocnistis Zeller leafminers of the avocado genus Persea (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae)

Four New World species of Phyllocnistis Zeller are described from serpentine mines in Persea (Family Lauraceae). Phyllocnistis hyperpersea,new species, mines the upper leaf surfaces of avocado, Persea americana Mill., and red bay, Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng. and ranges over much of the southeastern United States into Central America. Phyllocnistis subpersea,new species, mines the underside and occasionally upper sides of new leaves of Persea borbonia in southeastern United States. Phyllocnistis longipalpa, new species, known only from southern Florida also mines the undersides of new leaves of Persea borbonia. Phyllocnistis perseafolia,new species, mines both leaf surfaces and possibly fruits of Persea americana in Colombia, South America. As in all known species of Phyllocnistis, the early instars are subepidermal sapfeeders in young (not fully hardened) foliage, and the final instar is an extremely specialized, nonfeeding larval form, whose primary function is to spin the silken cocoon, at the mine terminus, prior to pupation. Early stages are illustrated and described for three of the species. The unusual morphology of the pupae, particularly the frontal process of the head, is shown to be one of the most useful morphological sources of diagnostic characters for species identification of Phyllocnistis. COI barcode sequence distances are provided for the four proposed species and a fifth, undescribed species from Costa Rica.     

New species of Septobasidium from southern Costa Rica and the southeastern United States

New species are described in Septobasidium, a genus of urediniomycete parasites on scale insects. One new species, S. gomezii, is described from Costa Rica, and another, S. meredithiae, is described from Louisiana. S. gomezii is most similar to S. septobasidioides, but macroscopic and microscopic differences support it being a distinct species. S. meredithiae is similar to S. alni and S. castaneum but differs from these species in several macroscopic and microscopic characters, especially when the species are observed on the same host tree and insect species. Another species collected only once in Costa Rica is listed with observations but it is not formally described here. This Septobasidium species shares some key characteristics with S. ramorum but combines a dense, compact, nearly black thallus and pigmented probasidia-like structures with spindle-shaped haustoria. Implications for taxonomy, morphological evolution and host specificity in Septobasidium are discussed.     

A new species of Pediobius (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) from Epilachna (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Costa Rica

A new and morphologically very distinct species of Pediobius from Costa Rica is described. The new species (P. nishidai) is unique among New World species of Pediobius in having the propodeum elongated and extended backwards (i.e. with an elongated nucha). The entire type series (15 females, two males) was reared from a single prepupa of Epilachna mexicana and it has been concluded that the new Pediobius species is a gregarious endoparasitoid that pupates inside its host. The possible use of this new species as a biological control agent against "the Mexican bean beetle" (E. varivestis) should be tested.     

New genera and species of ericaceae (Vaccinieae) from Costa Rica and Panama

Two new monotypic genera,Didonica andUtleya, are described, withD. pendula from Panama andU. costaricensis from Costa Rica.Disterigma trimera (Panama),D. utleyorum (Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador),Lateropora santafeensis (Panama),Lysiclesia panamensis (Panama),Macleania talamancensis (Costa Rica),Themistoclesia costaricensis (Costa Rica) andT. horquetensis (Panama),Vaccinium costaricense andV. orosiense (both from Costa Rica) and V.jefense (Panama) are all described as new. New combinations are provided for the PanamanianVaccinium floccosum (=Symphysia floccosa) and the West IndianVaccinium racemosum (=Symphysia racemosa). Keys are provided for the Central American species ofDisterigma andThemistoclesia, the species ofLateropora andLysiclesia, and the Costa Rican and Panamanian species ofVaccinium. Six new species are illustrated.     

Three new species of Elleanthus (Orchidaceae) from Central America

Elleanthus stolonifer andE. tillandsioides are new species in theE. poiformis complex of sectionChloidelyna.Elleanthus lentii is a new species in sectionStachydelyna. Elleanthus stolonifer is widespread in the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama;E. tillandsioides is found only in the lowland forests of southeastern Costa Rica;E. lentii is limited to the Cordillera de Guanacaste of Costa Rica.     

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.     

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.     

On American 'Micromerys' and Metagonia (Araneae, Pholcidae), with notes on natural history and genital mechanics

Two American pholcids previously assigned to Micromerys Bradley are redescribed and transferred to Mefagonia: Me. conica (Simon, 1893) comb. n. (Venezuela), and Me. delicata (Cambridge, 1895) comb. n. (Central America). Two close relatives of Me. delicafa are newly described: Me. uvita sp. n. and Me. falamanca sp. n. (both from Costa Rica). The name Me. turrialba Gertsch. 1986 is synonymized with Me. rica Gertsch, 1986 (Costa Rica) which is redescribed. Four additional representatives of Metagonia are described as new: Me. reventazona sp. n. (Costa Rica, Panama), Me. toro sp. n. (Panama), Me. hitoy sp. n. and Me. hondura sp. n. (Costa Rica). Leptopholcus dalei (Petrunkevitch, 1929) from Puerto Rico, which was originally described as Micromerys dalei. is redescribed and its closeness to 'true' Old World Lepfopholcus is supported. Arguments are presented to justify the transfer of the American 'Micromerys' species to Metagonia. Notes on the natural history of Me. rica are presented, and a detailed account on copulation and genital mechanics is given as a basis for future comparison. © 1997 The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters     

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.     

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.     

Diving Beetles of the Genus Rhantus in Costa Rica: Taxonomy and Biogeography,with Notes on South American Species (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

We describe Rhantus bohlei sp.n. from Costa Rican highlands. This is the fourth Rhantus species known from Costa Rica, besides of Rhantus souzannae Balke, R. gutticollis (Say) and R. calidus (F.). The latter two are wider spread, the others are endemic to Costa Rican highlands. Endemicity of the fauna is 50% (Canada: 7 species, endemicity 0). We suggest that the Costa Rican Rhantus fauna is a mixture of Laurasian and Gondwanian elements. Here, new records for the South American species Rhantus crypticus Balke and R. franzi Balk e are provided.     

Re-Evaluation of early observations on coconut in the New World

Oviedo’s sixteenth century reports from the New World, relating the characteristics, uses, cultivation and geographical distribution Cocos nucifera, are analyzed in terms of their veracity and implications for the evolution of this highly important economic species. The presence of coconut on the Pacific coasts of Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia is supported by the documentary evidence. The variability reported suggests a gene pool which includes the “wild” and “domesticated” morphotypes in populations similar to those distributed in the South Pacific region. The diffusion to America could have involved a large number of seeds. A close association between coconuts and humans, including a variety of uses and its cultivation is reported in the early sixteenth century literature. Evidence suggests both natural diffusion and diffusion by the intervention of humans. Studies of the genetic diversity in the region will identify valuable genotypes for improvement and conservation.     

A new Costa Rican species of Drosophila visiting inflorescences of the hemi-epiphytic climber Monstera lentii (Araceae)

Drosophila monsterae sp. nov. is described from 11 males and 13 females collected from the inside of closed inflorescences of Monstera lentii (Araceae) at 1810 m altitude in the Forest Reserve of Cerro de La Carpintera, Canton La Unión, Province of Cartago, Costa Rica. Although flies have been seen wandering and copulating inside the floral chambers of closed inflorescences during the floral female phase, eggs or larvae have not yet been found either in the spathe or in the fleshy spadix. The new species is related to Drosophila tristani Sturtevant, 1921, from San José, Costa Rica, from which it differs mainly by having smaller slightly circular compound eyes, distinctly broader genae (cheek index ca. 2.4 vs 5 in D. tristani), and the inner capsule of spermathecae with an unusual folded duct at basal half of its very wide introvert. This is the eighth species to be included in the New World, essentially Neotropical, subgenus Phloridosa. Photomicrographs of male and female terminalia are also provided.     

Resupinate basidiomycetes from Costa Rica. New or rare species of Atractiellales (Auriculariales s.l.), Exidiaceae, Sirobasidiaceae y Tremellaceae

Species of Atractiellales (Auriculariaceae s.l.), Exidaceae, Sirobasidaceae and Tremellaceae are reported as new for Costa Rica or as new to science, Tremella coalescens L.S. Olive, Sirobasidium minutum Kisim., Oberw. & Gómez sp. nov., Heterochaete vitrea Kisim., Oberw. & Gómez sp. nov., Exidiopsis mucedinea (Pat.) K. Wells, Helicogloea aurea Baker, Saccoblastia sphaerospora M?ller and Occultifur internus (L.S. Olive) Oberw. All the new species are described and illustrated. Since the original material collected in Brazil by M?ller is lost, a neotype for Saccoblastia sphaerospora M?ller is proposed. This Costa Rican collection represents the first record since the discovery of the species in 1891. Hyphoderma argillaceum (Bres.) Donk is reported for the first time from Costa Rica as the fungal host of Occultifur internus.