Telebasis rojinegra (Odonata: Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) sp. nov. from Costa Rica

Telebasis rojinegra sp. nov. was recorded from ponds at La Selva Biological Station and three other sites in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. The new species appears closely related to T. boomsmae Garrison, 1994 recorded from Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica, T. collopistes Calvert, 1902 ranging from Mexico to Honduras, and T. garrisoni Bick & Bick, 1995 from South America, but differs in having straighter and more elongate paraprocts and a half black pattern on the rear of the head. The female mesostigmal plates are also distinct from the above species. Telebasis rojinegra was active on the water primarily during afternoon hours.

Assessing the role of habitat and species interactions in the population decline and detection bias of Neotropical leaf litter frogs in and around La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Worldwide, amphibian populations have been declining rapidly. This decline can be attributed to many factors including climate change, pesticide exposure, and emerging infectious diseases, among other important factors, but few studies have examined the influence of species interactions. In this study, we examined how habitat factors and co-occurring avian and mammalian species, as well as humans, exert direct and indirect effects on Neotropical amphibian population dynamics. We further examined how these habitat and species interactions could affect our ability to reliably detect amphibian presence to robustly estimate population trends. We conducted amphibian visual encounter surveys at 26 randomly selected sites in the La Selva Biological Station, in northeastern Costa Rica, as well as 26 sites across five additional forest fragments in the region. Furthermore, we used camera traps to collect data on avian and mammalian communities and human visitation at those amphibian survey plots. From these data, we were able to estimate species occupancy probabilities for leaf litter frogs across sites and their relationships to habitat and interspecific species interaction covariates. We also conducted an experiment with plastic model frogs to estimate detection probabilities when a population is known to occur at a site with certainty. Our results suggested that strawberry poison dart frog (Oophagapumilio) occupancy was positively related to secondary forest and their detection was negatively related to increasing air temperatures at the times of the surveys. Leaf litter frog occupancy was negatively related to core La Selva sites and human detections at sites, yet their detection was positively related to human trail presence, which might be related to reduced leaf litter cover due to heavy trampling. Our experimental surveys suggested that Neotropical leaf litter frog communities are difficult to detect when present and future studies should explicitly account for this detection bias to effectively monitor population trends.

Neotropical Swarm-Founding Wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae: Epiponini) Accept Expelled Queens in Case of Queen Loss

In the Epiponini, queen number declines through colony cycle, becausesome queens are expelled from colonies. Here we demonstratethat Epiponini wasps may accept expelled queens in situations ofqueenlessness. One colony of Protopolybia exigua was observed at theUniversity of São Paulo in Brazil; and another of Metapolybia docilis wasobserved at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. Queen removaltests were performed to study workers’ acceptance of expelled queensand queens from other colonies. In P. exigua, the experimental queenelimination caused a change in the workers’ behavior, ranging fromaggressive expulsion of non-selected queens to re-acceptance. In M.docilis workers were willing to accept queens from other colonies afterqueen elimination. Our results indicate that because of a decrease inworkers aggressiveness during the colony cycle, workers may acceptexpelled queens (even foreign ones, in experimental situations) in orderto ensure colony survival.

Dora Emilia Mora de Retana, a remembrance

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>It was with severe regrets that I learned of the untimely death of Dora Emilia Mora de Retana. In 1985 while completing the Orchidaceae for Flora of La Selva Biological Station, I started a search for a Costa Rican with whom to collaborate on a larger project. </span></p></div></div></div></div>