Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The life cycle of Pelidnota (Pelidnota) virescens Burm. is described and discussed, beginning with 48 eggs laid by five females collected in Acamilpa, Morelos, Mexico. Larvae were reared in fragments of soft, rotten wood of Annona sp. (Annonaceae). In captivity, the life cycle was completed in one year. Duration of each instar was as follows: first larvae 15 days, second larvae 45 days, third larvae 200 days, pupae 29 days, and adults 31 days. Each larva consumed at least 55 g of dry rotten wood. Maximum live weights of third instar larvae were from 2.50 g in females and 2.41 g in males.

The study of four species of birds of genus Passerina in the Biosphere Reserve La Sepultura, Chiapas, Mexico was carried out. The objective was to know the ocurrence places and to estimate their distribution and abundance. The search consisted on carrying out the summary of current and historical records in databases and the sampling in six sites that were visited during January to December of 1999. All records were assigned to a coordinate system, being also digiized the distribution of types of vegetation and the gradient altitudinal of the study of area. By means of analysis of averlaps of these coverings and the reported ecological tolerances and observed for the species, three maps were generated: one of the ocurrence of the four species and other two on the areas of potential distribution, for the species residents. The relative abundance was obtained by season (dry and humid) for each one of the species of the genus, with relationship to the sampling effort and expressed in percentage for each site. The results of abundance were analyzed by the statistical test of G. The sites of ocurrence of the species of the genus are in five municipalities in those that the Reserve is located. The resident species are restricted to the distribution of Tropical Semi-Deciduous Forest. The migratory species presented a wide distribution range, being able to inhabit pine forest, pine-oak forest and cloud forests. The abundance of the species of the genus, it was greater in the nearby region to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Ctenocolum janzeni Kingsolver & Whitehead is registered as a new host for Urosigalphus (Bruchiurosigalphus) mimosestes Gibson, collected in the Biosphere Reserve Sierra de Huautla, Morelos, Mexico.

This study is the first work that compares rodent communities in a deciduous forest in Mexico. It documents differences between sites experiencing different degrees of disturbance caused by firewood and lumber extraction, and cattle grazing; a relatively undisturbed site (Site 1) and another more disturbed site (Site 2) in southeastern Morelos State. In each site we captured six species of rodents. Though habitat disturbance did not modify diversity or evenness of rodent species, the total number of individuals captured in Site 1 (n = 319) was greater than in Site 2 (n = 90). Effects of habitat fragmentation were expressed in significant differences in population density, age structure and microhabitat preference between two sites for Baiomys musculus, Peromyscus levipes and P. melanophrys. The disturbance of deciduous forest appears to be the principal factor explaining differences in demographic parameters of rodent species between the two study sites, as these two sites have the same climate, similar soils, and topography which differ only slightly.

Relative clutch and litter mass were assessed in two sibling species (Sceloporus aeneus and S. bicanthalis) with different reproductive mode (oviparous and viviparous, respectively). S. bicanthalis had a greater relative litter mass than the relative clutch mass of S. aeneus, these values are the highest recorded for the genus Sceloporus. Individual neonate weights were not significantly different after hatching or birth, suggesting that differences in values of relative clutch and litter mass between species are due to different embryo stages.

Little is known about overwintering sites of Dalbulus elimatus, D. gelbus, D. guevarai and D. longulus, which are leafhopper vectors of maize pathogens. This study was conducted in Mexico, during two dry seasons (1999-2000 and 2000-2001). The objectives were to know if the four species of leafhoppers overwinter on irrigated maize, to know their geographical and altitudinal distribution, and to determine the abundance of D. elimatus on three different habitats. The four species were found on maize cultivated with irrigation at less than 2,050 m. Dalbulus elimatus was collected between 771 m and 2,050 m high in the states of Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebla and Zacatecas. Dalbulus gelbus was gathered between 400 m and 2,013 m high in the states of Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla and Zacatecas. Dalbulus guevarai was found between 400 m and 2,013 m high in the states of Guerrero, Michoacán and Morelos. Finally, D. longulus was collected between 5 m and 90 m high in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Veracruz. The previous geographical and altitudinal distribution are similar to those reported for the four species during the wet season in Mexico. During the dry season D. elimatus not only was found on maize, but also on green grass species.

Elaphrothrips valerioi sp. nov. collected in Alajuela, Elaphrothrips cesari sp. nov. collected in Heredia and Elaphrothrips lorraineae sp. nov. collected in Limón are described from Costa Rica. A key to the known sixteen species of Costa Rica is presented.

During 1990, 1991 and 1992 food habits of the green iguana were studied at "La Mancha", Veracruz. The most important items in the diet were plants (35 spp). In a seasonal diet analysis it was found that leaves of different species were the most important items (57.36%). Flowers (24.15%) and fruits (3.43%) were only eaten when they were available. Mostly all the plant species eaten are representatives of the tropical dry forest (74%) and the highest percentage were weeds (33%) and trees (30%). There was not a significant difference in the diet throughout the year.

The author of this monograph analyses the resolutions pronounced by the House of Lords and by the EuropeanCourt of Human Rights in the case of Diane Pretty, an English citizen who died in may 2002. Because of a degenerative and incurable disease she pretended her husband be granted immunity if he helped her to commit suicide. The verdicts which were examined rejected her request.

Bioethics, in providing a stage for interdisciplinary discussion has as its challenge to argue in a context in which there is a multiplicity of ethical voices. The world today, consists of moral "relatives" and moral "strangers", as said by T Engelhardt; the difficulty lies in the return to the search for a moral authority with a communal base content. Bioethics must put forth interpretations and appoint norms for the working in diverse scenarios as justice in health, clinical research, biodiversity and genetics amongst others.This challenge for bioethics results in a useful distinction, following that, which has been expressed by J.Habermas: the pragmatic, the ethical and moral used as different applications of Practical Reason. Furthermore to speak of a language which belongs to the Kantian tradition, of which today we are all part whenever philosophy concerns that which is moral. Despite the fact that T Engelhardt does not believe Habermas´s Theory of Communicative Action to be a solution to the contemporary moral problem, the language of this work may be vital for the field of Bioethics.