The immature stages of some Phlebotomine sandflies from Brazil (Diptera: Psychodidae)

Immature stages of Lutzomyia anduzei (Rozeboom), L.antunesi (Coutinho), L. flaviscutellata (Mangabeira), Psychodopygus davisi (Root), Ps.paraensis (Costa Lima) and Ps.lainsoni Fraiha & Ward are described from specimens reared in the laboratory. The Lutzomyia species are members of the intermedia group, though L. flaviscutellata larvae more closely resemble those of Psychodopygus species. The larvae of L.anduzei and L. antunesi are separable on minor setal differences and are similar to previously described members of the intermedia group. Ps. paraensis is distinguishable from the other two Psychodopygus species described, by the absence of prothoracic seta 2. Head seta 5 of Ps.davisi is about twice the length of that in Ps. paraensis and larvae of Ps.lainsoni are pale and characterized by colourless body setae 4 and 10. A key to the fourth instar larvae is given which includes all the known larvae of the intermedia group and of the genus Psychodopygus. Morphological differences in the Psychodopygus larvae do not appear to reflect the separation of the adults into series.     

Stomatal Response to Humidity and Lanthanum

Lanthanum fed to the base of excised leaves of Sesamum indicum L. and Helianthus annuus L. was used as a tracer to investigate by electron microscopy the path of water in the apoplast of leaves. The generally random distribution of lanthanum in cell walls provided no support for the hypothesis that cuticular transpiration may be greater for guard cells than for adjacent epidermal cells. Occasionally, accumulations of lanthanum were observed in anticlinal walls of epidermal cells and at the outer surface of the plasma membrane but lanthanum was not observed in the symplast. The influx of ⁸⁶Rb to excised roots of sesame and sunflower was inhibited during incubation with 0.5 mM lanthanum or calcium for 15 or for 180 min. Stomata of sunflower partially closed when 2.5 mM lanthanum was supplied to the base of excised shoots in a potometer, whereas this treatment had little effect on stomatal conductance of sesame shoots maintained in a constant environment. Supplying 2.5 mM lanthanum to the base of sesame shoots strongly inhibited stomatal opening response to increase in ambient humidity but had little effect on stomatal opening response to light. It was concluded that stomatal opening response to increased humidity may be dependent upon some process, such as ion influx, that is inhibited by lanthanum, and that opening response to humidity may differ in mechanism from stomatal opening response to increased irradiance.