Itanna Fernandes

Aim Despite the accelerating loss of biodiversity and the increased number of methods for conservation planning, the availability of information about the spatial distribution of biodiversity remains limited. One way to overcome this problem is to focus on surrogate resolutions that are able to represent species-level data and can be efficiently measured. Surrogates are only useful if the ecological patterns detected at the species-level still hold when based on coarser taxonomic identification, and if these responses are consistent across regions. We present a comprehensive analysis using data from a large-scale evaluation of ground-dwelling ants, to evaluate the use of surrogates. Location Amazon basin. Methods The sampling design covered 13 sites in eight phytophysiognomies, which in conjunction with other environmental characteristics (altitude, soil granulometry and slope) were used to validate the ecological patterns (ability of the surrogates to reproduce the ecological responses identified for species) of coarser surrogate taxa (indicator taxa, mixed-level approach, genus and subfam-ily). The surrogates were evaluated for their capacity to predict variation in total species richness and composition. We also estimated the monetary and time costs, in order to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using different surrogate levels. Results Genus was the most cost-effective surrogate: it predicted 81% of site variation in species richness, was highly correlated (r 2 = 0.76) with species composition, very highly correlated (r 2 = 0.97) with ecological patterns detected at species level and saved ~40% of total project costs. The mixed-level approach, indicator taxa and subfamily were not effective in representing the species-level data. Main conclusions Genus can be used as a surrogate for species, due to its high predictive value, independent of environmental heterogeneity. Genus may be useful as a surrogate for species in other megadiverse regions, especially where savings in project costs can be applied to increase sampling effort.

Este guia não busca trazer uma revisão profunda sobre a biologia, ecologia e evolução das formigas. Na realidade, apresentamos de forma condensada informações básicas sobre esses temas que a maioria dos mirmecólogos (as pessoas que estudam formigas) devem conhecer. Muita informação importante ficou de fora, mas esse viés foi proposital. Foi a única forma que encontramos para enfatizar as chaves de identificação e os gêneros de formigas da forma que merecem, mantendo o guia em um tamanho razoável. Discutir em profundidade a biologia, ecologia e evolução das formigas que ocorrem no Brasil, fatalmente terminaria em um livro com mais de 2.000 páginas, e a mesma informação está disponível em outros livros especializados. Porém, mesmo com o viés dado, esperamos que o guia seja útil também para graduandos, pós graduandos e mesmo pesquisadores da área.

The members of Dorylinae are dominant predators in tropical and subtropical terrestrial ecosystems. The most cryptic army ant genus of the New World is Cheliomyrmex. The only species recognized until now for the Amazon Brazilian Basin is C. andicola, recorded in the state of Acre. We provided the first records of Cheliomyrmex megalonyx to Brazil in the Amazon Basin. The major worker of Cheliomyrmex megalonyx was collected in the state of Rondônia while the minor was found in the state of
Amazonas. These records suggest that more efforts are needed to reveal the diversity, distribution and biology of these cryptic ants.

The genus Simopelta consists of 21 described species restricted to Central America and South America. The present study describes a new cryptobiotic species, Simopelta anomma sp. nov.. The new species is blind, possesses a 3-segmented antennal club, and has the midtibia with several stout setae, a combination of characters unique within the genus. Moreover, some traits of this species require broadening the definition of the genus. The discovery of S. anomma sp. nov. suggests that many undiscovered species, some of which may be important for understanding ant evolution, remain hidden below ground in Neotropical rainforests.

The genus Pachycondyla was recently revised for the New World by MACKAY & MACKAY (2010), and the P. foetida spe- cies complex is the second largest group in terms of number of species. We add two new species to this complex: Pachycon- dyla bactronica sp.n. and Pachycondyla billemma sp.n., and describe the previously unknown males of P. curvinodis FOREL, 1899 and P. inversa (F. SMITH, 1858). Furthermore, we designate lectotypes for P. villosa (FABRICIUS, 1804) and P. inversa. We also provide taxonomic keys for workers, queens and males of the species in the Neotropical Region, and add information on the distribution of this species complex in Brazil. The expanded complex now consists of seven species in Brazil and 13 species for the Neotropics.

The genus Simopelta consists of 21 described species restricted to Central America and South America. The present study describes a new cryptobiotic species, Simopelta anomma sp. nov.. The new species is blind, possesses a 3-segmented an- tennal club, and has the midtibia with several stout setae, a combination of characters unique within the genus. Moreover, some traits of this species require broadening the definition of the genus. The discovery of S. anomma sp. nov. suggests that many undiscovered species, some of which may be important for understanding ant evolution, remain hidden below ground in Neotropical rainforests.