Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 24 (2): 283-293, junho 2007The structure of the fauna of aquatic insects in lotic environments is directly related to geomorphology, hydrology, quality of water, quality and availability of food resources, dominant substratum, temperature and dissolved oxygen (VANNOTE et al. 1980, RICHARDS et al. 1993, ZAMORA-MUÑOZ et al. 1993, ZAMORA-MUÑOZ & ALBA TERCEDOR 1996, BISPO et al. 2006. Those characteristics vary in time and space; therefore, it is expected that those variation determine the spatial and temporal alteration of diversity and of structure of fauna in the aquatic communities.Among the aquatic insects, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera, usually known as EPT, comprise a rich assemblage of taxa in low and medium order cobble streams. These organisms are sensitive to environmental perturbations and occur, mainly, in clean and well-oxygenated waters. Due to those characteristics, these organisms are frequently considered as good indicators of water quality (ROSENBERG & RESH 1993). According to MARCHANT et al. (1995), patterns found for EPT represent the same patterns found for the macroinvertebrate fauna as a whole; for this reason, studies could be restricted to that fauna. BISPO et al. (2006) have investigated the effect of environmental factors over the distribution of EPT and have concluded that precipitation, stream order and altitude were the main factors that determine distribution and fauna abundance. The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of spatial variation, including the effects of stream size, anthropic action, and seasonality (dry and rainy seasons) over diversity and structure of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera assemblages. Caixa Postal 131, Goiás, ABSTRACT. The diversity and structure of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) assemblages in streams of Central Brazil (Serra dos Pireneus, Pirenópolis, State of Goiás) was investigated. Abundance data of EPT were obtained in Central-West Brazilian streams in order to evaluate the effect of spatial variability, including the effect of size of the stream and anthropic action, and seasonality (dry and rainy seasons) on faunal diversity and structure. The immatures were collected with circular sieves (0.5 mm mesh) during one hour at five collection stations over 14 months. From a spatial point of view, the data showed that anthropic action determined the patterns of diversity whereas the size of streams (1 st and 3 rd -4 th orders) determined the faunistic composition. In addition, environmental seasonality was an important factor for structuring the EPT fauna. Div

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Wing pigmentation is a trait that predicts the outcome of male contests in some damselflies. Thus, it is reasonable to suppose that males would have the ability to assess wing pigmentation and adjust investment in a fight according to the costs that the rival may potentially impose. Males of the damselfly Mnesarete pudica exhibit red-coloured wings and complex courtship behaviour and engage in striking male-male fights. In this study, we investigated male assessment behaviour during aerial contests. Theory suggests that the relationship between male resource-holding potential (RHP) and contest duration describes the kind of assessment adopted by males: self-assessment, opponent-only assessment or mutual assessment. A recent theory also suggests that weak and strong males exhibit variations in the assessment strategies adopted. We estimated male RHP through male body size and wing colouration (i.e. pigmentation, wing reflectance spectra and transmission spectra) and studied the relationship between male RHP and contest duration from video-documented behavioural observations of naturally occurring individual contests in the field. The results showed that males with more opaque wings and larger red spots were more likely to win contests. The relationships between RHP and contest durations partly supported the self-assessment and the mutual assessment models. We then experimentally augmented the pigmented area of the wings, in order to evaluate whether strong and weak males assess rivals' RHP through wing pigmentation. Our experimental manipulation, however, clearly demonstrated that strong males assess rivals' wing pigmentation. We finally suggest that there is a variation in the assessment strategy adopted by males.

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