New records and geographic distribution map of Bothropoides diporus Cope, 1862 (Reptilia: Viperidae)

We provide two new records of Bothropoides diporus for Neuquén province, northern Patagonia, Argentina. Both records are the second and third for this species in this province. One of these records, from the northern slope of Auca Mahuida Mountain, extends approximately 120 km to the north the present known geographic distribution of this species in Neuquén province.Fil: Minoli, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Janis Alvarez, Diego. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Avila, Luciano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

Philodryas trilineata (Argentinean mousehole snake). Diet

Philodryas trilineata is a large (maximum length = 200 cm) species endemic to the Monte biogeographic region in western Argentina (Giraudo and Scrocchi 2002. Smithson. Herpetol. Inform. Serv. 132: 1-53). The diet of P. trilineata is known to include birds, mammals, lizards, and other snakes; some individuals are known to hunt domestic fowl or rabbits (Cei 1993. Reptiles del Noroeste, Nordeste y Este de la Argentina. Herpetofauna de las Selvas Subtropicales, Puna y Pampas. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino. 945 pp.; Laspiur et al. 2012. Herpetol. Rev. 432151-152).Fil: Minoli, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Cristian Hernan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Alvares, Diego Janish. Universidad Federal do Río Grande del Sur. Instituto Biociencias. Departamento de Zoología. Laboratorio de Herpetologia; BrasilFil: Avila, Luciano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

Depredación de Homonota darwinii Laurent 1984 (Squamata: Phyllodactylidae) por Brothriurus burmeisteri Kraepelin, 1894 (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae) en la provincia del Chubut, Argentina

Se presenta el primer registro documentado sobre la depredación de Homonota darwinii por un escorpión (Bothriurus burmeisteri) y proporciona información biológica adicional sobre este tipo de interacción trófica.Fil: Perez, Cristian Hernan Fulvio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Minoli, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

Learning spatial aversion is sensory-specific in the hematophagous insect Rhodnius prolixus

Even though innate behaviors are essential for assuring quick responses to expected stimuli, experience-dependent behavioral plasticity confers an advantage when unexpected conditions arise. As being rigidly responsive to too many stimuli can be biologically expensive, adapting preferences to time-dependent relevant environmental conditions provide a cheaper and wider behavioral reactivity. According to their specific life habits, animals prioritize different sensory modalities to maximize environment exploitation. Besides, when mediating learning processes, the salience of a stimulus usually plays a relevant role in determining the intensity of an association. Then, sensory prioritization might reflect an heterogeneity in the cognitive abilities of an individual. Here, we analyze in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus if stimuli from different sensory modalities generate different cognitive capacities under an operant aversive paradigm. In a 2-choice walking arena, by registering the spatial distribution of insects over an experimental arena, we evaluated firstly the innate responses of bugs confronted to mechanical (rough substrate), visual (green light), thermal (32°C heated plate), hygric (humidified substrate), gustatory (sodium chloride), and olfactory (isobutyric acid) stimuli. In further experimental series bugs were submitted to an aversive operant conditioning by pairing each stimulus with a negative reinforcement. Subsequent tests allowed us to analyze if the innate behaviors were modulated by such previous aversive experience. In our experimental setup mechanical and visual stimuli were neutral, the thermal cue was attractive, and the hygric, gustatory and olfactory ones were innately aversive. After the aversive conditioning, responses to the mechanical, the visual, the hygric and the gustatory stimuli were modulated while responses to the thermal and the olfactory stimuli remained rigid. We present evidences that the spatial learning capacities of R. prolixus are dependent on the sensory modality of the conditioned stimulus, regardless their innate valence (i.e., neutral, attractive, or aversive). These differences might be given by the biological relevance of the stimuli and/or by evolutionary aspects of the life traits of this hematophagous insect.Fil: Minoli, Sebastian. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Cano, Agustina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pontes, Gina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Magallanes, Amorina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Roldán, Nahuel. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Barrozo, Romina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

New records of Pristidactylus nigroiugulus Cei, Scolaro & Videla, 2001 (squamata: Leiosauridae) with a geographic distribution map

We provide new geographic records for Pristidactylus nigroiugulus Cei, Scolaro & Videla, 2001 from Argentina. We present the first record for Santa Cruz province and the southernmost records of the species based on lizards collected in the austral summers of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014. Based on a museum specimen, we extend the species distribution to the eastern part of the Somuncurá Plateau. An updated distributional map is included.Fil: Avila, Luciano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Minoli, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Cristian Hernan Fulvio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez Marin, Maria Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Morando, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentin

The main component of an alarm pheromone of kissing bugs plays multiple roles in the cognitive modulation of the escape response

Innate responses in animals can be modulated by experience. Disturbed adults of the triatomine bug Triatoma infestans release an alarm pheromone (AP) that elicits an escape response in conspecific larvae. The main component of this AP, the isobutyric acid (IsoAc), alone has already shown to generate an escape response in this species. However, not much is known about the modulation of this behavior by non-associative and associative cognitive processes. We present here evidences of the cognitive capacities of T. infestans larvae in an escape context under different conditioning paradigms, including IsoAc in different roles. We show that: (1) the duration of a pre-exposure to IsoAc plays a main role in determining the type of non-associative learning expressed: short time pre-exposures elicit a sensitization while a longer pre-exposure time triggers a switch from repellence to attractiveness; (2) a simple pre-exposure event is enough to modulate the escape response of larvae to the AP and to its main component: IsoAc; (3) IsoAc and the AP are perceived as different chemical entities; (4) an association between IsoAc and an aversive stimulus can be created under a classical conditioning paradigm; (5) an association between IsoAc and a self-action can be generated under an operant conditioning. These results evince that IsoAc can attain multiple and different cognitive roles in the modulation of the escape response of triatomines and show how cognitive processes can modulate a key behavior for surviving, as it is the escaping response in presence of a potential danger in insects.Fil: Minoli, Sebastian Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Palottini, Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Manrique, Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentin

Un Caso de polidactilia en Liolaemus petrophilus (Iguania: Squamata: Liolaemini)

Se encontró un individuo con un dígito adicional. Es un ejemplar juvenil macho, con un LHC de 55,61 mm. La extremidad anterior izquierda presenta 6 dígitos (Fig. 1). Las otras extremidades son completamente normales. El análisis radiográfico sobre este ejemplar evidencia que la polidactilia aparece por una ramificación del metacarpiano I (Fig. 2). A partir de esta ramificación las falanges son completamente independientes, de manera que el dedo I está formado por dos dígitos desiguales en longitud y grosor (Fig. 2). El ejemplar fue depositado en la colección herpetológica del Museo de la Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina (MLP.S 2604).Fil: Minoli, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Feltrin, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Avila, Luciano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentin

Reptiles of Chubut province, Argentina: richness, diversity, conservation status and geographic distribution maps

An accurate estimation of species and population geographic ranges is essential for species-focused studies and conservation and management plans. Knowledge of the geographic distributions of reptiles from Patagonian Argentina is in general limited and dispersed over manuscripts from a wide variety of topics. We completed an extensive review of reptile species of central Patagonia (Argentina) based on information from a wide variety of sources. We compiled and checked geographic distribution records from published literature and museum records, including extensive new data from the LJAMM-CNP (CENPAT-CONICET) herpetological collection. Our results show that there are 52 taxa recorded for this region and the highest species richness was seen in the families Liolaemidae and Dipsadidae with 31 and 10 species, respectively. The Patagónica was the phytogeographic province most diverse in species and Phymaturus was the genus of conservation concern most strongly associated with it. We present a detailed species list with geographical information, richness species, diversity analyses with comparisons across phytogeographical provinces, conservation status, taxonomic comments and distribution maps for all of these taxa.Fil: Minoli, Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Morando, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Avila, Luciano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin