The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora.

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Resumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do extrato de tabaco no controle do besouro cascudinho [Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)] de aviário. O experimento foi conduzido em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com quatro tempos de contato (2½, 5, 7½ e 10 min) e quatro concentrações do extrato de tabaco (0, 25, 50 e 75% de diluição). O tempo de contato e as diluições do extrato foram independentes; entretanto, o tempo de contato exerceu maior influência na mortalidade do inseto. O extrato de tabaco tem potencial inseticida no manejo de aviários, mas testes de toxicidade devem ser realizados com as aves.Termos para indexação: Alphitobius diaperinus, Nicotiana tabacum, avicultura, inseticida natural. Tobacco extract in the control of the mealworm beetle in aviariesAbstract -The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of tobacco extract on the control of the mealworm beetle [Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)] in aviaries. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design, using four contact times (2½, 5, 7½, and 10 min) and four tobacco extract concentrations (0, 25, 50, and 75% dilution). The contact time and the dilution of the extract were independent; however, contact time had greater effect on insect mortality. The tobacco extract has insecticide potential in the management of aviaries, but toxicity tests should be performed on the birds.

Pediculosis is an infestation of the scalp caused by Pediculus humanus capitis, known as lice, which affects thousands of people throughout the world. Disease control is achieved by topical insecticides, whose indiscriminate use has led to the emergence of resistant populations of lice. Melia azedarach L. (Meliaceae) is an Asian tree that is found in Brazil, where it is popularly known as cinnamon or santa-bárbara. This study aimed to evaluate a pediculicidal treatment, made from a hydroethanolic extract of M. azedarach, and to study the effect of extraction solvents (ethanol and water) on insect mortality. The chemical composition of crude extract was studied by gas chromatography, identifying 32 methyl esters of fatty acids, with esters of heneicosanoic, palmitic, and arachidic acids present in greatest abundance. The (1)H and (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra suggested the presence of flavonoids and terpenes. Quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1) and quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2) were isolated from the extract. The bioassay of pediculicidal activity shows that the M. azedarach extract had a pediculicidal activity, inducing the death of all lice faster than 1% permethrin, a topical insecticide commonly used to control lice.

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