tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47508261632208739452024-03-02T10:56:00.698-08:00Natureza - in and around the Mata AtlanticaMacaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-4800736385265520022024-03-01T10:22:00.000-08:002024-03-01T10:22:19.577-08:00How to kill the most dangerous scorpion in Brazil<p> As I discussed last time, the Brazilian Yellow Scorpion (BYS) has an incredibly powerful sting, fatal to humans in hours. And it’s numbers are increasing in cities in Brazil, for various reasons, but mainly because it feeds on cockroaches and flies, more rubbish means more food, so more scorpions. And also the absence of natural enemies (see below). <br /><br />So how do you control it? Well they are quite small, but I strongly warn against treading on one! Insecticides can work, Bifentol for example can kill them, but BSYs can survive for up to 400 days without food, as long as they stay wet, and it’s hard to spray everywhere. When they do reproduce, which they can do at any time in the year, they are quite fertile. <br /><br />Surprisingly, there are natural enemies. Hens will voraciously feed on BYS’s though they are well aware of the sting, and apparently survive. They even prefer them to corn (“hmm, spicy”). In 1922 the mayor of Aparecida in Brazil distributed chickens as a way of attempting to control a scorpion outbreak. <br /><br />But the true Nemesis of the Brazilian Yellow Scorpion is a toad, <i>Rhinella icterica</i>. Quite a common toad in southern Brazil, living in forests and Cerrado savanna, in the wild <i>R. icterica</i> tends to live in the same environments as BYSs, and both are active at night. They appear to be more or less immune to the scorpion sting and will happily hunt and kill scorpions. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNk7BH0_gqcju5iHd6QWQL8ZjoiCTc_nAr0ifZZRRETdOvSt-lJyFQIIAkoChYK7oGXKKaMFMb_J7zxny0iODSuRxlGiks5Pn9FBTc0YnEeMSF6a8EXRsOvGi0XUCrCnOuGRbjVDtX3MMcNEF9Xe0dBPXyHN47fep8pkpViI3pYvHlPMQBhyEOXmsbY7M/s2214/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2013.27.49.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="2214" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNk7BH0_gqcju5iHd6QWQL8ZjoiCTc_nAr0ifZZRRETdOvSt-lJyFQIIAkoChYK7oGXKKaMFMb_J7zxny0iODSuRxlGiks5Pn9FBTc0YnEeMSF6a8EXRsOvGi0XUCrCnOuGRbjVDtX3MMcNEF9Xe0dBPXyHN47fep8pkpViI3pYvHlPMQBhyEOXmsbY7M/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20at%2013.27.49.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo conveniently showing the different coloration of male and female <i>Rhinella icterica. </i>Wikimedia Commons - Caio Biasoli</span><p>None of this however helps in the city. At a domestic level advice is remove any food sources which might attract cockroaches and seal any cracks in walls, especially in damp areas. Put down insecticides or sticky traps. And, anecdotally, tip out shoes before you put them on - and run a shower for a few minutes before entering, scorpions like damp, dark places and are quite capable of crawling up the drains!<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jared C, Alexandre C, Mailho-Fontana PL, Pimenta DC, Brodie ED Jr, Antoniazzi MM. (2020). Toads prey upon scorpions and are resistant to their venom: A biological and ecological approach to scorpionism. Toxicon., 178:4-7.<br /><br />Murayama GP, Pagoti GF, Guadanucci JPL, Willemart RH. (2020). Voracity, reaction to stings, and survival of domestic hens when feeding on the yellow scorpion (Tityus serrulatus). J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis., 28:e20210050<br /><br />Murayama GP, Barbosa B, Willemart RH (2023). Experimental approach to the dislodging effect and the mortality of a pesticide in the yellow scorpion Tityus serrulatus. PLoS ONE 18(7): e0289104.</span></p>Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-13609456812561164332024-02-22T05:11:00.000-08:002024-02-22T05:11:03.203-08:00The Most Dangerous Scorpion in Brazil<p> So imagine you are in the Brazilian holiday resort of Buzios, lazing on the beach or sipping a caipirinha, and a yellow scorpion appears. Not only that, it is the MOST DANGEROUS SCORPION IN BRAZIL!</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUVRbp03WMrKPhg96IrR_zCesPEodW70tQWFMBN54jVFWmsEby1rXVlvI5L9cOSVQjpcGlzSiHlDZPDsmkVlO-vEHb700f6c4IAiQK_Axoh1fyVDaczFyw-iC8KbCETQMJMAPXvnvCTblKiPghTaqcHPmTns8rcUpfWjoJMFd1ZI_oNJ_GwsFwIqNVF4/s828/Screenshot%202024-02-22%20at%2009.45.33.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="828" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhUVRbp03WMrKPhg96IrR_zCesPEodW70tQWFMBN54jVFWmsEby1rXVlvI5L9cOSVQjpcGlzSiHlDZPDsmkVlO-vEHb700f6c4IAiQK_Axoh1fyVDaczFyw-iC8KbCETQMJMAPXvnvCTblKiPghTaqcHPmTns8rcUpfWjoJMFd1ZI_oNJ_GwsFwIqNVF4/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-22%20at%2009.45.33.png" width="320" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wikimedia Commons, Fernanda Moreira</span><br /></p><p>It’s <i>Tityus serrulatus</i>, the Brazilian Yellow Scorpion ("escorpião-amarelo") (who makes up these names?). Anyway, they are quite small, 5-7cm, but manage to cause the highest number of poisonings from animal bites in Brazil, facing some strong competition! A cocktail of toxins cause a whole raft of symptoms and can kill you in an hour. The Instituto Vital Brazil has reportedly captured 200 of these little monsters in Buzios, and taken them to the institute for anti-venom research. <br /><br />This scorpion loves to feed on flies and cockroaches, and so is drawn to the same refuse that they are. An absence of natural enemies in cities (not surprisingly) makes them well adapted to urban life, and their numbers are increasing. Make sure you clean up your rubbish!<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://revistaforum.com.br/brasil/2024/2/21/paraiso-turistico-brasileiro-invadido-por-escorpies-venenosos-154375.html<br /><br />Pimenta RJG, Brandão-Dias PFP, Leal HG, Carmo AOD, Oliveira-Mendes BBR, Chávez-Olórtegui C, Kalapothakis E. (2019). Selected to survive and kill: Tityus serrulatus, the Brazilian yellow scorpion. PLoS One, 14(4),e0214075.</span></p><br />Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-44328267347197064012024-02-19T05:30:00.000-08:002024-02-19T05:30:57.869-08:00Looking in, looking out<p> A treehopper (<i>Membracis</i> sp.) on the window pane. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3MQuB7W3X_dft27JmASR_X55Llocao9uxm3w63q7VkKHlalWd_TB66J05NDwJzSMmK1EcCqaAQoNosA_vt4kBCl908BendsS2oSYcK9YHFfYaqXoQ3XrAhYGYtKkZdaio9_DMv-7eQRInuJSwAA_4PeTmkD_sGxAWhjRIQH04YEJ2Ocf-4QRslAJ0Ck/s960/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20at%2010.12.10.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="872" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3MQuB7W3X_dft27JmASR_X55Llocao9uxm3w63q7VkKHlalWd_TB66J05NDwJzSMmK1EcCqaAQoNosA_vt4kBCl908BendsS2oSYcK9YHFfYaqXoQ3XrAhYGYtKkZdaio9_DMv-7eQRInuJSwAA_4PeTmkD_sGxAWhjRIQH04YEJ2Ocf-4QRslAJ0Ck/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20at%2010.12.10.png" width="291" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-92119374279514690832024-02-19T04:52:00.000-08:002024-02-19T04:52:59.664-08:00Chrysanthemum world<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjapU7HKi2YrHVzfXAcVPh4r1I6eab3ThQ9JJlly6HSW6qk0JjAK5P5XClFqOWgdLJyi5e2e_ie_5Ybq6JuPXSMEFIPLQCeN7oiN0DfmJfBNqz5sOKQAFc_kxuRGVP6sNFW6MOlmIF8H3QHWPQXcFhxWKoYxqEOyyGGJaqLYoUpaRcZfl5hh-PB-1GWOdg/s1592/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20at%2012.07.34.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1592" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjapU7HKi2YrHVzfXAcVPh4r1I6eab3ThQ9JJlly6HSW6qk0JjAK5P5XClFqOWgdLJyi5e2e_ie_5Ybq6JuPXSMEFIPLQCeN7oiN0DfmJfBNqz5sOKQAFc_kxuRGVP6sNFW6MOlmIF8H3QHWPQXcFhxWKoYxqEOyyGGJaqLYoUpaRcZfl5hh-PB-1GWOdg/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20at%2012.07.34.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Chrysanthemums (<i>Chrysanthemum</i> sp.) are native to east Asia, but have been cultivated in China for millennia, apparently since the 15th century BC, or even earlier. Later they became very popular in Japan, and the monarchy there is known still as the Chrysanthemum Throne.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although most chrysanthemums are grown for their beauty, some species can be drunk as a tea, or boiled and eaten in dishes such as Chinese hotpot. Conversely, the seed pots of some species have been used for centuries to make permethrin, an effective insecticide and the ancestor of modern synthetic pyrethroids. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So why am I talking about chrysanthemum's in a blog about Brazilian nature? Because they are part of it, being grown mainly in the state of Sao Paulo. Especially around Holambra, where Dutch immigrants established a flourishing horticultural industry and today there is an important flower auction system, the Veiling Holambra. The ornamental flower industry has grown rapidly in Brazil, with Ibraflor (the Brazilian Institute of Floriculture) reporting in 2021 an annual average growth rate of 10-12 per cent over the previous 10 years. Roses are the most popular, followed by chrysanthemums, alstroemerias, lilies and lisianthus, and orchids. 97% of domestic demand for chrysanthemums is supplied by domestic production (Gobatto et al 2019).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">A survey of virus infections in chrysanthemum greenhouses and the weeds present in and around those greenhouses gives a snapshot of an ecosystem in Sao Paulo (and Colombia, but I'll just talk about Brazil) (Gobatto et al 2019).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The chrysanthemums are grown in greenhouses, but they can interact with the environment outside. A survey of weeds in and around greenhouses in Sao Paulo found 51 different species, which were consequently tested for the commercially important RNA viroid, Chrysanthemum stunt disease (CSVd). The only one found to have a natural infection was <i>Oxalis latifolia</i> (in Brazil "trevo"), which not only contained virus particles but also showed symptoms. Originally from Central America, <i>O. latifolia </i>is a very common weed, and in fact has been introduced around the world as a garden flower, and even, in India, as rabbit food. <br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDg27L3d9-4RrR1lsB2prUrrIjLBYe0AwOOUxdHKq0YeGZiHTEte8QCjsiKQ9h-m-_lZWc7RDl18k_n8PMkVvWhkvtx10DyYwst0CWNRiMnJwoh0xK05tMMoeEHA-IX0vSU7xvetE-eYhrElbdCNX9l4AnTq7KTojwK2OxS5bLlTy0GDX61L4GAuvY1c/s1564/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20at%2009.12.11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1564" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDg27L3d9-4RrR1lsB2prUrrIjLBYe0AwOOUxdHKq0YeGZiHTEte8QCjsiKQ9h-m-_lZWc7RDl18k_n8PMkVvWhkvtx10DyYwst0CWNRiMnJwoh0xK05tMMoeEHA-IX0vSU7xvetE-eYhrElbdCNX9l4AnTq7KTojwK2OxS5bLlTy0GDX61L4GAuvY1c/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20at%2009.12.11.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Oxalis latifolia</i> (Wikimedia Commons)</span><br /><p></p><p> Of the other species of weeds tested, 17 were found to be possible hosts of CSVd. ie. they didn't have virus infections, but could be infected in lab conditions. The most widespread in and around greenhouses was <i>Cardamine bonariensis</i> ("griãozinho") a kind of cress. <i>C. bonariensis</i> seems to have originated in Europe, probably entering Brazil with imported plants. Although no natural infections were found, or have been reported, evidence that it can support CSVd is worrying.</p><p> And of course there are insects. The most important pests of chrysanthemums in Brazil are aphids and thrips (Bueno et al, 2003). One of the commonest thrips is F<i>rankliniella occidentalis</i>, a very polyphagous species that has spread from the southern USA around the world, and can feed on practically everything (well, at least 500 species). <i>F. occidentalis </i>has been shown to transmit another chrysanthemum virus <i>Chrysanthemum stem necrosis virus</i> (Goretti & Lima 2019).<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWnXGTdkA4Di4lrV7R_hL4AUCw-jsft_uPm0EAQJpmE8X3MQwwgStZKo3yMYQFZzQC6pYZ8z869bskhyuMdoeL2LeCr7-QIWdRv8nCfroHRONOGN0IwzM5qQTc-h7_KchowDHbU4BqYu9UTt6v7EWqMH24BAmy9Ltn80HyOKK0IzLNlNBPvwjVUiEKoQ/s702/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20at%2009.29.49.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="702" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWnXGTdkA4Di4lrV7R_hL4AUCw-jsft_uPm0EAQJpmE8X3MQwwgStZKo3yMYQFZzQC6pYZ8z869bskhyuMdoeL2LeCr7-QIWdRv8nCfroHRONOGN0IwzM5qQTc-h7_KchowDHbU4BqYu9UTt6v7EWqMH24BAmy9Ltn80HyOKK0IzLNlNBPvwjVUiEKoQ/s320/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20at%2009.29.49.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Frankliniella occidentalis </i>(author's collection)</span><br /></div><div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">So there we have it. An ecosystem, a world, of mainly expats
in the same place and time. An artificial ecosystem for sure, but how many
ecosystems are completely "natural" these days?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Bueno, V.H.P.; Lenteren, J.C. van; Silveira, L.C.P.;
Rodrigues, S.M.M. (2003). An overview of biological control in greenhouse
chrysanthemums in Brazil. Bulletin OILB/SROP 26(10), 1-5.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Gobatto, D., de Oliveira, L.A., de Siqueira Franco, D.A.,
Velásquez, N., Daròs, J.A., Eiras, M. (2019). Surveys in the chrysanthemum production
areas of Brazil and Colombia reveal that weeds are potential reservoirs of
Chrysanthemum Stunt Viroid. Viruses. 2019 Apr 17;11(4):355.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Goretti, Maria & Lima, Élison (2019). Tripes -
ornamentais. Pragas e doenças associados aos cultivos na Serra de Baturité, CE (pp.123-130).
Publisher: Liceu.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p></div>Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-19968954859498720462012-11-21T08:20:00.002-08:002012-11-21T08:20:56.311-08:00Brazilian Horses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJ4NdOHvndYXbh02rLNHH5Zp749R9VI5U8YFRoAFhdUfu20EpC3trIrCm_dFaDlqt9ZckQJvmrB0dFntgaKhe9adc7sL8r-wZYWcwo81jpqP4RV-LR9o6zFAhWeSfpuxGuyL3U6BacEs/s1600/Mangalarga_Marchador.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJ4NdOHvndYXbh02rLNHH5Zp749R9VI5U8YFRoAFhdUfu20EpC3trIrCm_dFaDlqt9ZckQJvmrB0dFntgaKhe9adc7sL8r-wZYWcwo81jpqP4RV-LR9o6zFAhWeSfpuxGuyL3U6BacEs/s400/Mangalarga_Marchador.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A Mangalarga Marchador</span></div>
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Horses have played a huge part in Brazilian history, and every one was descended from an imported horse, there being no natural equines in South America. Over time, many local breeds have developed, often based on Portuguese types such as the Lusitano and Alter Real imported with Portuguese colonisers. The <b>Lusitano</b> was specifically bred for the bull fighting ring, and they tend to be intelligent and highly manoeuvrable, whilst the <b>Alter Real</b> were originally high grade carriage horses.<br />
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Incidentally, horses are traditionally measured to their shoulders, not the top of their heads, and they are measured in "hands", one hand being 4 inches.<br />
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<b>Baixadeiro </b>- an old breed developed in the marshlands, they are tough, with hard wearing feet able to withstand long immersion in water. Perhaps surprisingly for such an environment they are small, with short legs, and only abut 14 hands high.<br />
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<b>Brazilian pony</b> - bred for use with children using bloodlines including Scottish ponies and the Argentine Falabella, they are of course small (8.3 to 9.8 hands), but docile and popular.<br />
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<b>Brasileiro de Hipismo</b> (Brazilian Sport Horse) - a fairly recent and very successful breed developed in the 70s for competition and they have already competed at the Olympics. They are tall (over 16 hands) and lively, but not temperamental.<br />
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<b>Campeiro </b>- basically "field horse" the origins of this breed go right back to the horses brought with the Portuguese to southern Brazil in the 1540s. Over the years the breed has been improved with Thoroughbred and Arabian bloodlines and they now make good riding and ranch horses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBUK6EpU6WLLsmRq-_IN4MmbHtZsAH8sL8Ntostd6zL11yt9FHoWoc_TGdrZJiGZisKSZxVUwi9-KPCyIUreHGT-8NjXavd0lDJw2H1_GOz1VJKdObuXMbdK8e09VGzwbcdZvm8HdmeI/s1600/Campolina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBUK6EpU6WLLsmRq-_IN4MmbHtZsAH8sL8Ntostd6zL11yt9FHoWoc_TGdrZJiGZisKSZxVUwi9-KPCyIUreHGT-8NjXavd0lDJw2H1_GOz1VJKdObuXMbdK8e09VGzwbcdZvm8HdmeI/s320/Campolina.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> A Campolina</span></div>
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<b>Campolina</b> - developed in the 1860s and 70s in Minas Gerais from a mixture of many bloodlines including Andalusian and Clydesdale (!), it is one of the larger breeds at 15-16.2 hands and used for riding and driving <br />
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<b>Corajosa </b>- "courageous", this pony is not only hardy, but also apparently gentle and kind. They were bred not for children, but for riding and draft work in areas with little grassland.<br />
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<b>Crioulo </b>- a cross of African and European breeds they are found in the south, where they make good ranch horses for the cowboys and gauchos.13-15 hands high.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">A Crioulo and Gaucho rider</span></div>
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<b>Mangalarga Marchador</b> (see photo at start of the blog) - originally developed in the 1700s and one of the most popular breeds in Brazil today. They are comfortable and easy to ride, with lots of stamina, and so make good trekking or ranch horses. The breed includes bloodlines from various Spanish lines, and they may be the closest living connection to the medieval Spanish Jennet. <br />
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<b>Mangalarga Paulista</b> - basically an attempt to upgrade the Mangalarga Marchador by crossing with English Thoroughbreds or Anglo-Arabians, the Mangalarga Paulistas are attractive, but apparently not so comfortable to ride over long distances.<br />
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<b>Nordestino </b>- a fairly small (13 hands), but extremely rugged and sturdy horse, probably derived from North African breeds, the Nordestino was developed in the harsh and hot north east of Brazil. They were popular in the military as being easy to train and with great endurance, but they are less common these days.<br />
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<b>Pampa </b>- apparently derived from feral horse populations that were caught and trained by various indigenous tribes in Brazil. They are well adapted to local conditions and characteristically have hard, tough, hooves as they would not have been shod. They also generally have "pinto" markings, which means large white splodges somewhere on their body<br />
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<b>Pantaneiro </b>- a breed from the Pantanal, a huge marshy area in the state of Mato Grosso. As they were not developed as such, with the deliberate introduction of blood lines, but were rather just bred from those horses that survived the harsh terrain, they are extremely hardy, with excellent disease resistance. They are mostly used as ranch horses. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Pantaneiros</span></div>
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<b>Piquira </b>- a fairly recent development for children, mostly derived from crossing Crioulos with, bizarrely, Shetland ponies. They aren´t tiny, but are on the small side (12-13 hands) and apparently docile and calm <br />
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Many of the breeds above are now quite rare, as either their original function no longer exists, or they´ve been replaced by imported breeds. This applies especially to the Baixadeiro, the Campeiro and the Pantaneiro. Because of this the Brazilian Agricultural Research Assocation (Embrapa) encourages breeding programs, as well as storing seman and DNA samples, and even frozen embryoes, so the breeds are not lost.<br />
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More details on these breeds, and many others, can be found at the Equinest web site at http://www.theequinest.comMacaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-46284134024631499242012-11-02T07:38:00.000-07:002012-11-02T07:49:58.561-07:00Very small red dots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Panonychus ulmi (Dept Agriculture UK)</span><i><br /></i></div>
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This is the European red spider mite (<i>Panonychus ulmi</i>), ("ácaro vermelho europeu"), but it has emigrated. It is now found all over the world, where it is something of a nuisance. It feeds on plants, and unlike many invertebrates, it`s not fussy. Add a very high reproductive rate and you have a pest.<br />
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In Brazil it is mainly found in the south, where like many European migrants it finds the climate more congenial. There it is a major pest of apples, pears, peaches and vines, overwintering as eggs on the tree trunks. In the spring the eggs hatch and nymphs start crawling over the plant. Now, these mites are very very small, about 0.7 mm, so you wouldn´t think it would matter much, but there are a LOT of mites. Each female only lives about 2-3 weeks, but can lay up to 50 eggs. Gradually the leaves become spotted, then bronzed and they fall off. Infested flowers often produce no fruit.<br />
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Incidentally, mites are NOT insects, they´ve got eight legs and they are distantly related to spiders. Including the ability to spin webs. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Neoseiulus californicus</span></div>
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The main predators of mites are other mites, predatory mites. Since 1992 hundreds of thousands of <i>Neoseiulus californicu</i>s have been reared in huge plastic greenhouses in Brazil and released into orchards. They don´t eat all the mites, which is a good thing as then they themselves would starve. They just kill enough to leave the tress healthy. With luck you get a balance.Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-24460591343001372192012-10-27T05:30:00.005-07:002012-10-27T05:30:39.169-07:00Brazilian DogsEverybody likes dogs, and most parts of the world have dogs developed for the local conditions, from Labrador to Chihuahua. It`s surprising therefore that a country as large as Brazil has only two, the Brazilian terrier, and the Fila Brasileiro. It`s not that there aren`t dogs around, there are thousands of miniature poodles and Yorkshire terriers keeping people company in the apartments of Rio and Sao Paulo, even Gisele Bunchen had until recently a Yorkie called Vida. And there are innumerable "<i>Vira latas</i>" (mongrels) in the favellas and fazendas. But of specifically Brazilian purebred breeds, there are only two.<br />
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<b>The Brazilian Terrier</b>, or Fox Paulistano<br />
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The exact ancestry of the Brazilian terrier is unknown, but they are basically descended from Fox Terriers, with some Jack Russell, Miniature Pinschers and Chihuahuas thrown in. They resemble a large Jack Russel, and are said to have a similar temperament, friendly, intelligent and energetic. They were bred for farm work, active all day and they make excellent ratters. A group will even combine to attack larger prey, attacking from each side until it`s worn down.<br />
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Although fairly small they are NOT apartment dogs, they need lots of exercise and stimulation, otherwise they get bored and a bit destructive. They also have a very strong hunting instinct, strongest of all the terriers, and so leaving one with a cat all day is probably not a good idea.<br />
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<b>The Fila Brasileiro</b> or Brazilian Mastiff<br />
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The Fila Brasileiro is another animal entirely, large (about 50 Kg) and very powerful. They were bred as working dogs on plantations or cattle ranches, probably from a combination of Mastiffs, Bulldogs and Bloodhounds, but unlike some large breeds they are normally alert and active.<br />
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Life as a working dog on a Brazilian farm meant driving off predators such as jaguars, and running down stray cattle, and slaves. The bloodhound ancestry made them good trackers, and they were trained not to kill their prey, but to grab the animal or slave by the neck until the farmer arrived. Puppies still show this instinct in play today.<br />
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Although affectionate to their owners and families, it goes without saying that Filas are utterly and completely unsuited to be apartment dogs! Infact, in many countries such as the UK, Denmark and New Zealand you cannot own one at all. In the past Filas were often trained to be "Ojeriza" or distrustful of strangers, and with their very strong protective instinct this made them sometimes dangerous to anyone outside of their "pack". But this was the fault of stupid owners rather than the dogs themselves, and with proper training and socialisation from an early age they are calm and safe with strangers, even if not especially friendly.<br />
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Filas still make good farm dogs, and they might be branching out. They are reportedly used by the Israeli army and some American police forces, where they have the advantage as tracker dogs that, if necessary, they are fiercely defensive of their handlers once the quarry is found.<br />
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A five year study by the Brazilian army compared Filas, Dobermans and Alsatians in jungle conditions, looking at intelligence, aggressiveness, sensibility, temperament, energy, resistance, and strength. The Alsatians were smarter, the Dobermans more aggressive, but Filas won every other category.Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-42407804375556077232012-10-08T14:23:00.002-07:002012-10-08T14:23:48.768-07:00Natural ResourcesBrazil is blessed with natural resources, a huge and fertile country exporting vast quantities of food around the world. There is even oil under the rolling South Atlantic, but it doesn´t stop there.<br />
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New medicines, new drugs, are often based on chemicals found naturally in nature and few countries have more nature than Brazil. That flower deep in the Amazon may hold the cure for any number of diseases, just as aspirin came from willows, digitalin from foxgloves, and the common anti-cancer drug Vincristine from the Madagascar periwinkle.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cayenne Ticks, as shown in a Globo News report on amblyomin-X</span></div>
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It´s not a rule of nature that something has to be beautiful to be useful. Few animals are uglier or more unpleasant than the Cayenne Tick, <i>Amblyomma cajennense</i>, which lives to suck blood from any animal it can find, including man. Not only that, but it can transmit disease, including Sao Paulo fever, or Rocky Mountain spotted fever. If you see one biting you, don´t just flick it away, you might leave the head still biting you, or at least cause the tick to regurgitate it's infected saliva into your wound (what you should do is use forceps to grasp it as close to your skin as possible, and gently pull straight back, then disinfect the wound).<br />
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So how is this tick a good thing? Well, researchers at the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo have isolated a compound from that saliva called amblyomin-X. It´s not quite clear how, but amblyomin-X persuades cancer cells to self-destruct, whilst leaving healthy cells alone. Even better, it stops angiogenesis, which is now tumours get their own blood supply - so the tumour cannot grow, cannot spread around the body, and basically "starves".<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Harvesting tick saliva (Globo News)</span></div>
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Amblyomin-X works very well on rats, and next year should enter human trials. If these are successful it would be historic, because it would be the very first medicine developed from discovery to industrial production in Brazil. Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-59019389332655557552012-09-16T15:07:00.002-07:002012-09-16T15:07:51.301-07:00Me, Me, ME!!There is an election coming up in Brazil, the most obvious manifestation of which is the use of vans playing annoying, repetitive, jingles, very very loudly. As with most things, there is a natural equivalent.<br />
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The master of "political" advertising is the male Screaming Piha (<i>Lipaugus vociferans</i>), a grey thrush-size bird that lives in the tree canopy in northern Brazil and Amazonia. The call is not unpleasant the first time you hear it, but you tend to hear it a lot, and he is one of the loudest birds on Earth! The Piha's call reaches 111.5 decibels, whilst for comparison, an electric drill is 98 dB, and a power saw 110 dB. The aim of course, like that of the advertising vans, is to draw attention, although in this case he is after mates, and is presumably more positively received.<br />
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http://www.freesound.org/people/felix.blume/sounds/140623/<br />
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The Screaming Piha works on the "lek" system, which is basically like an election, all the candidates in the same place screaming for attention. Apparently there is little difference in content in each lek, just in volume, but the calls change a little over the years. Perhaps we have more in common with birds than we think. Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-7402908929082217162012-08-20T14:57:00.000-07:002012-08-20T15:58:27.533-07:00 Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail grinding into your heelAs probably you know, the sting of a wasp is more painful than the the bite of a mosquito (though not necessarily more dangerous!). If you wanted, you could rank the stings of all insects in order, from the mildest to the most painful, but don´t worry, you don´t have to, for the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants) it has already been done - the <b>Schmidt Pain Index</b>.<br />
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So who is the winner?, the most painful possible sting, described as......<br />
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"<i>immediate, excruciating pain and numbness to pencil-point pressure, as well as trembling in the form of a totally uncontrollable urge to shake the affected part</i>"<br />
"<i>Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail grinding into your heel.</i>"<br />
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Not a wasp, but an ant, the<b> Bullet ant</b> (<i>Paraponera clavata</i>), and guess where they live? Yes, as well as piranhas, anacondas and parasites that enter your private parts when swimming, Brazil also has Bullet ants! Mainly in the Amazon, but they´ve also been reported in the Cerrado, the hot dry savanna in the north of Brazil.<br />
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<b>The Life of Bullet ants</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Paraponera clavata </i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Wikipiedia)</span><i><br /></i></div>
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Bullet ants live in colonies several hundred strong, mostly built in the soil at the base of trees, and ruled by a queen. And they are big, about an inch long, and jet black. Although they are omnivorous, and will chop up any insects they come across, their main food seems to be nectar, each day they climb up into the forest canopy and bring back nectar from the flowers there. But don´t imagine gentle giants, colonies can be quite close to each other and a state of war is more or less continuous. Injured ants give off a scent which attracts parasitic wasps, sort of ant Valkyries, who feed off the ants and lay their eggs there.<br />
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There aren´t many other things which eat Bullet ants, not surprisingly. But why exactly is the venom so powerful.<br />
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<b>Why so painful?</b><br />
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Bullet ants sting through a syringe-like spike at the tip of their abdomen. The consequent horrendous pain can last until the next day, and meanwhile you will have nausea, trembling and probably paralysis. It takes a lot of stings to actually kill you, about 30 per Kg of your weight, though after just one, death probably feels like a good alternative<br />
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Like most venoms, the Bullet ant sting is a cocktail of bad things, but most of the effect comes from poneratoxin. This blocks nerve transmission and causes long lasting contraction of smooth muscle fibres, which translates as pain and trembling. One sting contains only 1 ug of poneratoxin, a tiny, tiny, quantity, but enough.<br />
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<b>What are they good for?</b><br />
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Various Indian tribes of the Amazon have utilised Bullet ants for years. The sting is a treatment for rheumatism, presumably as the pain takes your mind of it. More productively, the mandibles at the other end can be used as a form of suture, they clamp shut on a wound even when the head of the ant is twisted off, and ant saliva causes the patients wound to swell, closing it.<br />
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The Satere-Mawe tribe have found another use. Hundreds of ants are sedated and then woven into a leaf to form a sort of glove. Wearing this glove for 10 minutes, and surviving, is an initiation rite for boys of the tribe. The Satere-Mawe were also the first people to domesticate the stimulant producing Guarana plant (<i>Paullinia cupana</i>), the product of which is now found in a hugely popular soft drink in Brazil. All of which suggests that the Satere-Mawe have a rather "innovative" approach to biology.<br />
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<b>Reference</b><br />
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A very good guide to poneratoxin by Vivienne Baillie Gerritsen can be found at<br />
ttp://web.expasy.org/spotlight/back_issues/2001/09/princess_balas.shtmlMacaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-47599617940410910492012-08-17T13:52:00.000-07:002012-08-17T18:53:42.550-07:00Pity the poor mosquito!You are probably, dear reader, a little prejudiced against mosquitoes. Take <i>Aedes scapularis</i>. Whilst it´s true that it is a vector for yellow fever, and human and Venezuelan equine encephalitis, poor <i>A. scapularis</i> has a hard life. In 2002, Casanova and do Prado studied them in the pastureland around a farm near Campinas, in Sao Paulo state, Brazil.<br />
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During the hot rainy season (October to March) muddy puddles form all over the land, and the drought resistant eggs of <i>Aedes scapularis</i> hatch, little larvae swimming off hopefully into the water. It seems a good life in a hot bath full of rich organic matter, but little scapularis does not realise the horrors ahead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjskIMOZ4oOXGc3wL_Jn0A9BKFmpDbXnWniydX7hyphenhyphenl5o0ZwpcGLeNWfnwioc04RDCoiXApbYKh_K3lY1Je2md33TD5V4l1DtNBWQh6R7PDNhLWrt8PKEIfe2irhf6ZPVML2UgvNkn-Zch4/s1600/SA700356+-+Copy+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjskIMOZ4oOXGc3wL_Jn0A9BKFmpDbXnWniydX7hyphenhyphenl5o0ZwpcGLeNWfnwioc04RDCoiXApbYKh_K3lY1Je2md33TD5V4l1DtNBWQh6R7PDNhLWrt8PKEIfe2irhf6ZPVML2UgvNkn-Zch4/s400/SA700356+-+Copy+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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For a start, it might rain, it might not, it might rain a LOT. <i>Aedes </i>only needs 9 days from hatching to adulthood, but even that might be too long. Of the 58 populations studied by Casanova and do Prado, 27 were wiped out by their ponds drying up, and 15 were washed away by floods, they never stood a chance.<br />
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Life in the 16 remaining pools was better, but not by much. The good news was that starvation was almost unknown, the bad news that all those mosquitoes ensured that starvation was unknown for their predators too. Estimates of total mortality from tiny larvae to emerging adults varied from 68 to a massive 96% per pool!<br />
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Predators included........<br />
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<b>Giant water bugs</b> "Baratas d' aqua" (Belostomatidae), aggressively predaceous insects who feed on, well, anything, injecting a digestive saliva and sucking out the remains. One of the most painful bites of any insects to us, let alone to a little mosquito.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mAkZeFbAY2DKevxB-_OMYoPQZIzMpETJfWVSsEIjEnU9l-jxPE5VrMkLXMnhbZlW1FKrF0BHtKlZC0AP5a9QhA14-bfnChk8dd6hdoKTWpUkd0jZ-7XcmXWcumBDqcGTXjEv-mZy3ww/s1600/Barata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mAkZeFbAY2DKevxB-_OMYoPQZIzMpETJfWVSsEIjEnU9l-jxPE5VrMkLXMnhbZlW1FKrF0BHtKlZC0AP5a9QhA14-bfnChk8dd6hdoKTWpUkd0jZ-7XcmXWcumBDqcGTXjEv-mZy3ww/s320/Barata.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Giant Water Bug larva (Wikipedia) </span></div>
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<b>Water scorpions</b> (Nepidae) - actually another type of insect<br />
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<b>Diving beetles</b> (Dytiscidae) - you can eat these, if you want to, in Mexico the adults are roasted and salted and added to tacos<br />
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<b>Dragonfly larvae</b> - there are, incredibly, at least 267 species of dragon- and damsel-fly in Sao Paulo state alone, and many of these eat mosquitoes<br />
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Last, but not least, larvae of a<b> predatory mosquito</b>, <i>Psorophora ciliata</i>. Don´t start to feel too grateful to this one, they feed on us as well, and infact are the largest blood feeding species found in the USA.<br />
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So, the little larva hatching into a warm, muddy, pool will almost certainly desiccate, be swept away, or be eaten. No wonder they are so angry!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Reference</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Key-factor analysis of immature stages of <i>Aedes scapularis</i> (Diptera: Culicidae) populations in southeastern Brazil byC. Casanova and A.P. do Prado (Bull. Entomol. Res. 92, 271-7)</span>Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-2789866531349067782012-07-10T17:16:00.001-07:002012-07-12T17:47:40.473-07:00Speedy banana<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjzYqRIC3EBsWVc8RBVbNfTPLbAFCdq4fE_mDFjBJ0CKkbDuQzejbDpLhV0VryjnK5gc2_Yo_tQRvhdcYq4usPlT6GDvy4YlP6wluDuqVG9IB0zXcDlR9dCjOtS2miTOE2DCmJjt0mDw/s1600/DSC09917+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjzYqRIC3EBsWVc8RBVbNfTPLbAFCdq4fE_mDFjBJ0CKkbDuQzejbDpLhV0VryjnK5gc2_Yo_tQRvhdcYq4usPlT6GDvy4YlP6wluDuqVG9IB0zXcDlR9dCjOtS2miTOE2DCmJjt0mDw/s320/DSC09917+-+Copy.JPG" width="256" /></a></div>
Plants grow fast in Brazil, but few grow faster than the banana. The plant you see here sprouted from bare earth covered with several cm of gravel, reaching 70 cm tall in just 10 days!<br />
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The banana you bought in the supermarket probably didn´t grow like this, as most commercial varieties are seedless. You can take suckers from the base of the plant, simply lopping them off with a spade when they´re about 3 ft tall and planting them somewhere else, and this works fine for small holdings. But these days large plantations mostly plant seedlings grown by micropropagation, which can be generated in large numbers and, importantly, certified disease free.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclAyav261yxlf1QWb2Pr7q0E_NHlh7YV4cobImzBoCaQdWKtv2YKsSHl26lGa7twD28bNnYbZdk9uiIYzI0d3hFuQz-HhKW9p4RhTgarLikwgNExHf8GQkhe7r5xJK0tb7Yj3roezb0Y/s1600/DSC09886+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclAyav261yxlf1QWb2Pr7q0E_NHlh7YV4cobImzBoCaQdWKtv2YKsSHl26lGa7twD28bNnYbZdk9uiIYzI0d3hFuQz-HhKW9p4RhTgarLikwgNExHf8GQkhe7r5xJK0tb7Yj3roezb0Y/s400/DSC09886+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Banana plants are greedy, they need lots of food, water and heat, but with this they grow very vigorously indeed. In plantations, bananas are usually picked when green and unripe, as they transport better that way, and can be ripened later. You can wait and pick then from the tree of course but be warned, it isn´t a myth about monkeys and bananas - given the chance they´ll eat the fruit before you have the chance to!Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-47139923759504996862012-07-04T16:26:00.001-07:002012-07-04T16:26:57.961-07:00Grass for cows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7yK4aFCF7z7Nqg1PK-M_iajZ5z-lrbiRGAKnWgADbE1uHnjX1m-k0cxWlnpEgKTUtAq-ooUp4XC9Es4ha8S88gJpWDY06z9QccfBH-PdPITd3BksdNoVJKhcEJJK1RNRskkrcYIdGkU/s1600/DSC09895+-+Copy+%282%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7yK4aFCF7z7Nqg1PK-M_iajZ5z-lrbiRGAKnWgADbE1uHnjX1m-k0cxWlnpEgKTUtAq-ooUp4XC9Es4ha8S88gJpWDY06z9QccfBH-PdPITd3BksdNoVJKhcEJJK1RNRskkrcYIdGkU/s400/DSC09895+-+Copy+%282%29.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Cows eat grass. So all you need to do is stick a cow in a field and let her get on with it, right? Well, more or less. It you are doing this commercially, you cannot just use any grass, you plant it like a crop, and the choice of grass is very important. It´s nutritional value, how well it grows in this soil, in this climate etc etc. The most important grass for cattle production in Brazil, and in the tropics generally, is <i>Brachiaria</i>, or rather various strains of the <i>Brachiaria </i>genus.<br />
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<i>Brachiaria </i>evolved on the savannas of Africa. Some probably came over with the Portuguese, but it was first introduced on a commercial scale in the 1950s. First <i>B. decumbens</i> in 1952 and later <i>B. ruziziensis</i> in the 1960’s. It´s hard to be sure, but there might now be up to 80 milion hectares of <i>Brachiaria </i>grassland in Brazil. Brazil is the largest producer of <i>Brachiaraia </i>seeds in the Americas, although production and sales in Mexico and other countries are increasing rapidly.<br />
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<i>Brachiaria </i>grows incredibly quickly, up to a metre high. It can also tolerate drier conditions, more acidity and more light than most plants, giving nutritious grass on soils normally described as infertile. Most Brazilian pastures aren't fetilised so this can be important.<br />
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The problem with a crop that grows everywhere is that it DOES grow everywhere, from flooded Amazon pastures to savanna to the cerrado, and given half a chance will swamp native species. It can also swamp legumes in the pasture that might fertilise the soil. Conversely, it is very good for the local froghopper insects, who can eat so much it doesn't leave enough for the cows.<br />
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Also, rather unfortunately for a forage crop, it can poisonous. For some
reason, certain individual animals can get sick and even die if they
eat too much. Some individuals are more susceptible than others, and
sheep are more susceptible than cows, but it is rare. The varieties that cause problems also tend to be the ones that survive best on poor soil. On the other hand, these varieties function well for the other use of <i>Brachiaria</i>, for erosion control by roads, railways and electricity lines.<br />
<br />Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-86617325187867928022012-06-17T08:17:00.001-07:002012-06-17T08:17:17.500-07:00ApplesYou can grow virtually anything in Brazil (apart apparently from grapefruit, to my chagrin). This includes apples ("<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="pt"><span class="hps">maçãs") </span></span> though until the 1970s hardly anyone bothered, there was only about 100 hectares of commercial orchards in the 1960s. This is surprising given a) the number of German and Pomeranian immigrants, many of whom were farmers, and b) imports of apples at the time accounted for about 100 million US dollars. Following considerable government and state investment in the 70s there are now 37,000 ha under cultivation, with 3,450 growers, and 1,253 thousand tons of apples were picked in 2009/2010. This investment included the importation of guaranteed virus free material from the famous research station at East Malling, England, which alone increased productivity by 25-50%.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Granny Smith apple</span></div>
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The commonest variety at the start was Golden Delicious and some Granny Smith, but these have been mainly replaced by Gala and Fuji, which make up 90% of production between them. In fact, it is often the redder types of these varieties, such as Royal Gala, Imperial Gala, Maxi Gala, Brookfield, Fuji Suprema, Fuji Seleta and Mishima, as these export better. Another development was increased use of "drawfing rootstocks". When you see an apple tree you are not seeing one tree but two, the bottom half from one variety, the top from another, joined together as seedlings. This allows you to get strong healthy trees (from the bottom part, the root stock and delicious apples, from the top). Another advantage of this is that if you choose the right rootstock, you can get dwarf trees, an idea developed at East Malling in the 1930s. Admittedly these have fewer apples per tree, but you can have a lot more trees per hectare, from roughly 600 to 2,500. This means more apples per hectare, and they are a lot easier to pick!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fuji apples </span></div>
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Now, one peculiarity of apples is that they need a winter, or rather they need a period of cold, to induce the production of buds and flowers for next years crop. Gala and Fuji, for example, need more than 600 chilling hours (hours less than 7 C) to give a good crop. Even in the south of Brazil where there can be frosty nights, and even snow some days, this isn´t guaranteed, so sprays are used to mimic this as in parts of Europe. Commercially you also need to add bee hives to the orchard, as otherwise there simply won't be enough bees to pollinate the flowers! Of course, that does give you honey as a particularly delicious byproduct.<br />
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One emerging trend in Brazil is cider. This tends to be based on French rather than English techniques, but made much faster, without much maturing. Brazilian cider, like Brazilian wine, is made with extra sugar and can seem sweet to north European tastes.Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-51001157850193848812012-06-14T15:34:00.001-07:002012-06-14T15:34:08.087-07:00Fruit fliesLeave any fruit out for long in Brazil and you will soon see hoards of little fruit flies ("moscas das frutas") swarming around it. These can be, frankly, a damm nuisance, but for farmers they are worse than that. Worldwide they are a major cause of crop loss. To give an example, for the last two years about half the harvest for some varieties of orange in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo has been lost to fruit flies. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Ceratitis capitata</i>, one of the commonest fruit flies (Wikipedia) </span></div>
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The flies lay their eggs in the fruit, just under the surface. When they hatch the little larvae happily eat away, safe from any predators, or indeed insecticide. When ready they emerge and drop to the ground where they pupate and later emerge to fly away, the whole process taking about 20-30 days. In at least some species the male fly then does a little dance to attract his mate. Of course all this does not make the fruit very attractive, and it also causes it to fall prematurely.<br />
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It's not just oranges - guava, peach, tangerine, cherry, cashew, mango, acerola, jabuticaba, passion fruit, cashew, hog plum, and star fruit all suffer. Arabica coffee as well, not so much as the others, but it can act as a nursery for fruit flies, who then fly to orchards nearby. One of the few fruits with some resistance is papaya, probably because of repellents and toxins in the latex of unripe fruit. Even then, if infected with sticky papaya disease up 60 pupae can be found in each fruit.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Ceratitis capitata</i> larva (Wikipedia) </span></div>
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There is not just one species of fruit fly, far from it. The small Brazilian state of Espirito Santo has at least 41 species recorded. Terry Pratchett invented a God of Beetles, who made each one individually, there should probably be such a God for fruit flies as well!<br />
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Of course fruit flies don´t have it all their own way. Farmers spray against them, although the larvae are safely inside the fruit, and it can take quite a lot of insecticide to cover an orchard. One novel solution is to spray just a few trees with sugar solution, which attracts all the adult flies where they can be dealt with in a killing zone. And of course, for any herbivore there are predators. Parasitic wasps lay their own eggs in the fly larvae, and this can be so devastating to fly numbers that artificial rearing of these wasps is being considered - not very nice, but it is environmentally friendly.Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-54915281825207671312012-06-11T16:03:00.000-07:002012-06-11T16:03:46.779-07:00Very big woodlice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This startling creature is a "tatui". If it looks like a woodlouse, well it is a sort of cousin, but much, much, bigger! In fact <i>Bathynomus giganticus</i>, the largest species of tatui, can reach up to 76 centimetres long and weigh up to 1.7 kilograms! They can, slightly bizarrely, curl up into a ball just like their miniature cousins.<br />
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Tatuis live in the sea, and apparently, they are reasonably common along the Brazilian coast, but at depths of over 350m. Sometimes though they seem to appear much closer inland, and then they do get reported in local newspapers, usually when someone's toes have been nipped! They have quite a strong bite, eating sea urchins and other slow creatures on the sea floor, as well as scavenging whatever carcases they can find. Surprisingly, despite being heavily armoured, they themselves sometimes end up as meals for sharks.<br />
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An interesting video describing the (often disgusting) habits of marine isopods, including the tatui, can be found here....<br />
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00msplzMacaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-55158635390930011802012-05-23T16:25:00.001-07:002012-05-23T16:56:02.931-07:00JiboiasThe online version of the newspaper Agazetta recently carried a report about a "jiboia" found by a road in the coastal city of Vila Velha in Brazil. On one side was a field of long grass, and forest, on the other a series of modern apartment blocks.<br />
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http://gazetaonline.globo.com/_conteudo/2012/04/eu_aqui/cidadao_reporter/1184785-jiboia-e-encontrada-em-rua-da-praia-da-costa-em-vila-velha.html<br />
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There are two types of jiboia, of Boa constrictor, found in Brazil, but given the location this is probably <i>Boa constrictor amarali</i> .<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckv5lZhbB2WJ0UqtFnEsHk0NJahYW1A6Qc6g1QVvKYHr8N0NX8u3bGAYXJiuNr5hWhR-1kEo0bs2y1CVxhWeG4PCv60tCnquWCJKtkFsASV-zdgMjg-kBvd1iabMgKnPupNr5S_wO2-k/s1600/snake2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckv5lZhbB2WJ0UqtFnEsHk0NJahYW1A6Qc6g1QVvKYHr8N0NX8u3bGAYXJiuNr5hWhR-1kEo0bs2y1CVxhWeG4PCv60tCnquWCJKtkFsASV-zdgMjg-kBvd1iabMgKnPupNr5S_wO2-k/s320/snake2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>B. c. amarali</i> normally hunts at night and rests during the day, and it normally found in trees, not on the road! In fact the gentleman in the photo said it was only the second one he had ever seen. It's normal prey are birds, or maybe lizards, but there is at least one recorded example of one taking a tree porupine. This was a mistake! We only know about it because the unfortunate snake (and unfortunate porcupine!) died and were found. The jiboia in this case was probably a young one, apparently small young snakes normally try for larger prey than mature large ones - they learn!Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-13768251017240356552012-04-10T15:54:00.003-07:002012-04-10T16:44:41.673-07:00The purple tree of Lent<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9nytr7BZh1etHU9K97XxfoVqvPGPu0uSGFPMQ4My7x5WiCx4S8HvdiEOAorVPZvyN9sK3AlPcXTB3Tt6oYBjNSZg912i9rMB-bJKbTkVY6QLX7cc8sbK1GvhdLL0YbP0TfJxV09J0IZQ/s1600/DSC09850+-+Copy.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 415px; height: 336px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9nytr7BZh1etHU9K97XxfoVqvPGPu0uSGFPMQ4My7x5WiCx4S8HvdiEOAorVPZvyN9sK3AlPcXTB3Tt6oYBjNSZg912i9rMB-bJKbTkVY6QLX7cc8sbK1GvhdLL0YbP0TfJxV09J0IZQ/s320/DSC09850+-+Copy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729922024095959778" border="0" /></a>Drive through the Mata Atlantica at this time of year and you will see a hundred shades of green, but also trees drenched in purple - the Quaresmeiras.<br /><br />Actually, there are several different Quaresmeiras, all members of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Tibouchina </span>genus. One of the commonest is <span style="font-style: italic;">Tibouchina granulosa</span>, found from Bahia down to Parana in the south of Brazil. It's evergreen, or at least semi-deciduous, depending on the location, and about medium height, 8-12 m. The flowers which are so distinctive can appear from January to April, or June to August, but they are traditionally associated with Lent, or "Quaresma", hence Quaresmeira. In contrast, the seed pods are small, about 12mm, and brown, whilst the seeds themselves are tiny.<br /><br />One problem <span style="font-style: italic;">T. granulosa</span> does have is that it is susceptible to Cryphonectria canker - and so are Eucalyptus trees. Extensive planting of Eucalyptus plantations in the Mata Atlantica, and Quaresmeiras as ornamental trees around the world means that it still isn't clear which has spread the disease to which! On the other hand, their wood is fairly useless, which for such a conspicuous tree is probably a good thing.<br /><br />Use in landscaping, like several trees from the Mata Atlantica, has also been good for <span style="font-style: italic;">T. granulosa,</span> spreading far beyond its original range so that it is apparently quite common in Florida and Hawaii, even South Africa. It's pretty, not too tall, and easy to grow So easy to grow in fact that it can be used to revegetate degraded areas and it will tolerate poor soils. It can also tolerate cool temperatures at night, which means that it grows quite happily in the hills, and provides a lot pleasure to the people there.Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-6138499908618690042012-03-24T11:49:00.003-07:002012-03-24T11:55:41.329-07:00Very small frogsThe newspaper OGlobo recently reported a discovery in the state of Espirito Santo, the aptly named Flea Frog ("Sapo pulga"), or <span style="font-style: italic;">Brachycephalus didactylus</span>, the worlds smallest frog. It has actually been found before near Rio, but this is the first siting elsewhere in the Mata Atlantica. Of course, just because it isn't seen, that doesn't mean it isn't there. After all, Flea frogs are a) very, very, small, b) they live hidden in leaf litter on the forest floor, c) they are camouflaged, and d) they only move around at night.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lJaII6ycL34sVUnzUF54BPaB9hXmibtn6raojAvxo1zYodfEroGKY8DBsr23B1sJPLcI9ilFb1daxQWzhqLU2iOH_-NDuRi0-f5Dj3V0tirgycV4rYC0mPCWWY5HAIRMlM49yGUtjho/s1600/sapo1_620.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 430px; height: 313px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lJaII6ycL34sVUnzUF54BPaB9hXmibtn6raojAvxo1zYodfEroGKY8DBsr23B1sJPLcI9ilFb1daxQWzhqLU2iOH_-NDuRi0-f5Dj3V0tirgycV4rYC0mPCWWY5HAIRMlM49yGUtjho/s320/sapo1_620.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723538410475299570" border="0" /></a>Obviously baby Flea frogs are even smaller, but not that small, females only lay one egg at a time, rather than the 1,000+ the European Common frog for example. However, like Common frogs, Flea frogs eat more or less any invertebrates they can catch, which means very <span style="font-style: italic;">small </span>ones, like mites or springtails.<br /><br />If you would like to see the original report (in Portuguese) it can be found here...<br />http://g1.globo.com/espirito-santo/noticia/2012/03/menor-especie-de-sapo-do-brasil-e-registrada-no-es-diz-pesquisadora.htmlMacaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-38414628442775781292012-03-14T14:18:00.005-07:002012-03-14T14:32:08.292-07:00Kelp gullsAs I've mentioned before, you won't find sea gulls on the beaches of Copacabana or Ipanema in Rio. However, go further south, down to Santa Catarina and beyond, and they do start to appear. One of the commonest is the Kelp Gull, or <span style="font-style: italic;">Larus dominicus</span> - the "dominicus" part coming from the Dominican order of friars who also had black and white plumage. In Brazil it's known as the "Gaviota dominicana".<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6x-U7G3JLlpifc0fB81N3bOHud2GXDmLPKiGC4UDfnhiJjQjkdzK5834V1wMNCEn5mf7nOg5aFVDOrVvETU2nkHs1i0U5RlHULciMbQcQIK8K1LjOZNos7fILDF6pmjU8k932BToDTRc/s1600/DSC01649+-+Copy.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 376px; height: 339px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6x-U7G3JLlpifc0fB81N3bOHud2GXDmLPKiGC4UDfnhiJjQjkdzK5834V1wMNCEn5mf7nOg5aFVDOrVvETU2nkHs1i0U5RlHULciMbQcQIK8K1LjOZNos7fILDF6pmjU8k932BToDTRc/s320/DSC01649+-+Copy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719867719088991698" border="0" /></a><br />In fact, the Kelp gull is not just found in Brazil, but all over the southern hemisphere, from the Falkland Islands to South Africa to New Zealand and Australia. As with many successful species they are ominvores, eating almost anything, which means that like their northern cousins they flock to waste sites and rubbish tips. Also, rather nastily, they seem to have a habit of pecking into whales when they surface. Slightly more admirably, they seem to be intelligent enough to use tools, or at least use stones to smash open mussel shells. They also pick up mussels and drop them from a great height, quite a common sight on the Falklands apparently.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVn9Uk2F_UbrluNLvVpgHdNMxr66jcAI_YvHecrAOOA3Q6StpBiGXytcTuGwdV_3W25QmR_894QWnitJQ5naCOkOfByKu8DaMcRR3mGlImvgqj3xmmNQ1gqEOYQ_Td8BCJ3_TUoAX2qQ/s1600/DSC01653+-+Copy.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 431px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVn9Uk2F_UbrluNLvVpgHdNMxr66jcAI_YvHecrAOOA3Q6StpBiGXytcTuGwdV_3W25QmR_894QWnitJQ5naCOkOfByKu8DaMcRR3mGlImvgqj3xmmNQ1gqEOYQ_Td8BCJ3_TUoAX2qQ/s320/DSC01653+-+Copy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719868106617125154" border="0" /></a><br />The one thing don't eat is kelp, or seaweed - the name probably comes from seeing them investigating weed washed up on the shore looking for molluscs or insects.Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-56199795000061555322012-01-23T12:42:00.000-08:002012-01-23T12:48:54.857-08:00FuchsiasThe ancestors of the fuchsias that brighten your garden were once growing in the forests of Central and South America. Exactly how they got to England is a bit of a mystery as there are many differing stories. One has a sea captain in the 1790s, Captain Firth, bringing a plant back from a voyage to the Americas and giving it to his wife who lived in Hammersmith. She liked it and planted it on her window sill where a local horticulturalist, James Lee, saw it. Now, fashionable society was in the middle of a plant collecting craze, and recognising a gold mine when he saw one he offered an incredible 80 pounds for the single plant. He knew what he was doing as he then sold cuttings for 10 to 20 pounds each. The popularity of the new flowers grew, with a desire for new forms- there are over 110 natural species of fuchsias, so almost endless possibilities for hybridisation, leading to the huge variety of colours and shapes seen today.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFeEk1eAs5USOm6iEKuASPxRiSAV5LaL7vxq1FU1_3tubCSb6QjBDTFucy3GDkqU5wHetJGk1jkakP_Lb87kjKTNOZ5JrZwSwQNCSNXF8YCgI7S_gTSUNiattr0Ged1V5vyYhwt1svxvk/s1600/DSC09610.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 423px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFeEk1eAs5USOm6iEKuASPxRiSAV5LaL7vxq1FU1_3tubCSb6QjBDTFucy3GDkqU5wHetJGk1jkakP_Lb87kjKTNOZ5JrZwSwQNCSNXF8YCgI7S_gTSUNiattr0Ged1V5vyYhwt1svxvk/s320/DSC09610.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700931068665524626" border="0" /></a><br />This is <span style="font-style: italic;">Fuchsia regia</span>, "brinco-de-princesa". More a vine than a tree or shrub, it can grow over 20 ft high, supporting itself on other plants as it struggles to reach the light. It's found from Minas and Espirito Santo down to Argentina, though generally only growing above 700m in the hotter latitudes. These were found at the Itaimbezinho canyons near Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil, part of the amazing Aparados da Serra National Park, where they are often shrouded in mist at night.<br /><br /><a style="font-style: italic;" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BwtykZRKlCZ64cuPRKame2fyAwviNn6yNmoFr27WddWMhU0hFW0iFpJ8y9MKfXIuFJ5PEU9uQ_Ek8c8Lhkrp_YUhInC_gIGy42ImaqUgVo6UHvyw2dJuegFVDbQnec4VKJdDKI7UjF8/s1600/DSC09611.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 430px; height: 339px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BwtykZRKlCZ64cuPRKame2fyAwviNn6yNmoFr27WddWMhU0hFW0iFpJ8y9MKfXIuFJ5PEU9uQ_Ek8c8Lhkrp_YUhInC_gIGy42ImaqUgVo6UHvyw2dJuegFVDbQnec4VKJdDKI7UjF8/s320/DSC09611.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700931295859668194" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Regia </span>was one of the original fuchsias used for plant breeding, and is still used for this today as it's a) very pretty, b) vigorous and c) resistant to the Fuchsia gall mite (<span style="font-style: italic;">Aculops fuchsiae</span>, which also comes from Brazil). You can actually use it as a garden plant, but it needs an awful lot of pruning.Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-25698310010245686312011-12-23T05:54:00.001-08:002011-12-23T06:07:34.974-08:00The Nativity Bird<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8Q1XsvHtqvQ97gKrUUBm8zYNW1reHW4mMQo4r52KjJp7mSjE9_qqWI9tIJBeeB7pnj3-nhAGxBOT6EU-oCS6RjfKOhbckcJEHCXazV0SL0j5J9Qi2OZmNO9D1puCqb2KjOycoAm7cFw/s1600/Charles_Le_Brun.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 484px; height: 342px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8Q1XsvHtqvQ97gKrUUBm8zYNW1reHW4mMQo4r52KjJp7mSjE9_qqWI9tIJBeeB7pnj3-nhAGxBOT6EU-oCS6RjfKOhbckcJEHCXazV0SL0j5J9Qi2OZmNO9D1puCqb2KjOycoAm7cFw/s320/Charles_Le_Brun.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689323433052212834" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Adoration of the Shepherds by Charles LeBrun 1689<br /></span></div><br />All over the Christian world at this time of year you will see Nativity scenes - Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the stable. In the background there will be horses, and perhaps sheep brought by the shepherds, but one crucial animal is missing, one that undoubtedly was flitting around the stables of Bethlehem, the sparrow.<br /><br />Sparrows (<span style="font-style: italic;">Passer domesticus</span>) originated in the Middle East, and it would have practically impossible to keep them out of a stable. They would probably roost there, and later in the year there would be sparrow nests in the eaves. Where you have one sparrow you have several, being very gregarious little birds. Even in Biblical times they were so familiar as to be taken for granted - in the Gospel of Mathew, Jesus notes how (even) the flight of a sparrow is noted by God.<br /><br />So common then, and common now, probably the most widely distributed bird in history. They tied their destiny to humans many many years ago, and it's worked. They flourish wherever man does, in his cities and on his farms. But why?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gQc2CsrJjQwNUw-LmBfgiLw9sMu5qbix25MpJ7qvG2Wvo2G1AUd3ScYJqWreet6Q7Mba0t_Rd97acbBvbvkDQvzYaewi-YbrR10KOVNt1F7BYygBVEjIJrBTDAZ8mC5G9NMlaQPontQ/s1600/sparrow.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 369px; height: 378px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gQc2CsrJjQwNUw-LmBfgiLw9sMu5qbix25MpJ7qvG2Wvo2G1AUd3ScYJqWreet6Q7Mba0t_Rd97acbBvbvkDQvzYaewi-YbrR10KOVNt1F7BYygBVEjIJrBTDAZ8mC5G9NMlaQPontQ/s320/sparrow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689322052369151922" border="0" /></a><br />Firstly because they like cereal seeds, and man grows cereals, and make bread. But beyond that they are extremely adaptable. Whilst many birds are picky about nest sites, sparrows will nest almost anywhere, although they prefer holes in trees. The eaves of buildings are common, and almost any dense tree or shrub, but even street lights, apparently attracted to the warmth.<br /><br />This brings us to the sparrow's 2nd advantage. They are immensely tolerant, "a bold and cheeky bird, but very wary and difficult to approach closely" according to my copy of the Ladybird Guide to British Birds (1956)*. Unlike many birds the noise and confusion of a modern city simply doesn't seem to bother them. Add an above average intelligence, a robust immune system, high fertility and amazing longevity (up to 23 years in captivity and even 19 years in the wild for one Danish bird) and you see why there are so many of them.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzU_m-hnTy0GTaIse-zhYWIFyRFiyjrQnwf1-RVThqQ8oMBBB26cEDbomwL__ncDwob-oe0evdg3sUb6P-qiH1zlTP1MhhCh7GdKu4CGSANmPgeDsHS-VKCXQtod42wSvKLT0VDwIsiI/s1600/DSC07189+-+Copy.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzU_m-hnTy0GTaIse-zhYWIFyRFiyjrQnwf1-RVThqQ8oMBBB26cEDbomwL__ncDwob-oe0evdg3sUb6P-qiH1zlTP1MhhCh7GdKu4CGSANmPgeDsHS-VKCXQtod42wSvKLT0VDwIsiI/s320/DSC07189+-+Copy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689324401475378914" border="0" /></a><br />And, they're cute. They're tame and friendly and nice to watch. This is more of an evolutionary advantage than you might think. Sparrows were deliberately released into the Americas, in Brooklyn in 1852 and Buenos Aires in 1870, apparently as the teeming European immigrants missed having them around - they're now found from the Northern Territories of Canada to Tierra del Fuego. They are the commonest birds, with pigeons, in many Brazilian cities, from Porto Alegre in the south to Ipatinga in Minas Gerais, and they have even reached the edge of Amazonia.<br />Where there is man, there are sparrows.<br /><br />So when you imagine the Nativity scene, shepherds, kings and a baby gurgling in the manger, add a few little brown birds flitting around in the background.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />*Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald. The third book of British birds. Ladybird</span>Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-18465299387688371342011-12-21T13:27:00.000-08:002011-12-21T13:30:32.025-08:00EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about the plants of the AmazonA 353 page book has just been published, Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life.<br /><br />A co-production of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and People and Plants International (PPI) it aims to describe all the commercially or medically important plants in the Amazon region, and it is amazingly comprehensive.<br /><br />For example<br />For the Buriti Palm (<span style="font-style: italic;">Mauritia flexuosa</span>) there is a description of it's ecology, how they can be cultivated, the average yield (up to 360 kg per tree in a year!), economics (1 litre of Buriti juice costs about $1) and a COMPLETE guide to it's possible uses, including how to make traditional toys.<br />There is a description of the cultural significance of the plant, the animals that eat the fruit or nest in the branches, and even a recipe for Buriti frozen creme! All illustrated with line drawings.<br /><br />And, the guide is free! It can be found at...<br />http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2360e/i2360e.pdfMacaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-77187305607547933602011-12-16T11:19:00.000-08:002011-12-16T11:30:40.318-08:00Nasty little spidersThe prime time news on Brazilian channel Globo recently showed a report on spiders*, specifically "Aranhas marroms", or "brown spiders" (translations never sound so impressive!). These little spiders might not look much, perhaps a bit larger than a normal spider, but they are a big problem.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToOrP78nSqVHFiFn4_ceWe4mdZrzzo-mXP6CgTlT8sI2O0pHz2txjmZCu5zhAm0kjt-wUj58koQq5Cw68VeAS9dcs1KzP-JmXa8c7GcrTeQhBoF28u8ZxCBa7eeONnHK-V-R_IimiHQ4/s1600/SPIDER1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToOrP78nSqVHFiFn4_ceWe4mdZrzzo-mXP6CgTlT8sI2O0pHz2txjmZCu5zhAm0kjt-wUj58koQq5Cw68VeAS9dcs1KzP-JmXa8c7GcrTeQhBoF28u8ZxCBa7eeONnHK-V-R_IimiHQ4/s320/SPIDER1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686808705587525730" border="0" /></a><br />"Brown spiders", (mostly <span style="font-style: italic;">Loxosceles similis</span>) are found through out Brazil, from Para down through Minas and Sao Paulo to Rio Grande de Sul, with the southern state of Parana being something of a hotbed. However, unlike many spiders, the young don't make silk parachutes to travel on the wind and they've only got little legs, so they don't travel very far - colonies tend to be very dense, but localised. They're timid animals and will generally try to hide from humans, but 5,000 people are bitten each year, leading to fevers, skin lesions, and even death. So why is such a little spider so dangerous?<br /><br />Well, it's all to do with their venom, which is incredibly toxic. Unlike some snake venoms, it's not neurotoxic as such, so victims don't go into paralysis or spasms, it is necrotic, which means that cells just die. Depending on how good a bite it got in, this can cause a little lesion the size of a bottle top, to one up to 40 cm wide. If this gets infected, or the toxin is carried in the blood stream to other organs (which is rare) the consequences can be very serious. The bizarre thing about their venom is that whilst some mammals such as rabbits and humans are very susceptible, mice and rats aren't, goodness knows why.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So what to do?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Avoidance</span><br /><br />Virtually all cases of bites have been from spiders forced into close contact, by someone picking them up, or they were in clothing or shoes, so shake out any clothing. Don't, what ever you do, spray them with insecticide! It causes a nervous reaction making them very aggressive and much more likely to bite!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Treatment</span><br /><br />If you suspect you've been bitten, wash the site with soap and water, but don't try to squeeze or suck out the venom, you'll just spread it around. Go straight to a doctor, with, if possible, the spider - treatment is by anti-venom and it helps to know who bit you!<br /><br />Every year, specialised (and very brave!) teams go out hunting around the southern city of Curitiba and catch thousands of spiders, which are "milked" for their poison. This is used to make the anti-venom. about 20,000 doses per year, to be distributed to hospitals all over Brazil.The actual technique used to make the anti-venom is explained nicely in the Globo piece.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Be nice to geckos</span><br /><br />The principle predators of brown spiders are geckos, which presumably are immune to their toxin.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">* The news report can be found here....<br />http://g1.globo.com/jornal-nacional/noticia/2011/12/agentes-cacam-aranha-perigosa-em-regioes-do-parana.html</span>Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4750826163220873945.post-6741328176886309552011-10-26T13:42:00.000-07:002011-10-27T15:08:11.248-07:00Little monkeys<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xD0MC2S8SYep-ZUvEShv-ok6_0007YEYvxmmB4S55e3oXNr0GJz-FHVfvdmbkON9R6Y4ZFcUgua1EFqcWvm2sUqsHFMQLB1wn0Y6mj5rlE-J6SU8PK38SmvSkwdUd2_axxVfGytz_8E/s1600/DSC00669.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 419px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xD0MC2S8SYep-ZUvEShv-ok6_0007YEYvxmmB4S55e3oXNr0GJz-FHVfvdmbkON9R6Y4ZFcUgua1EFqcWvm2sUqsHFMQLB1wn0Y6mj5rlE-J6SU8PK38SmvSkwdUd2_axxVfGytz_8E/s320/DSC00669.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667906302401881186" border="0" /></a>These charming creatures are "saguis" (marmosets), in fact "Saguis de cara branca", White headed marmosets (<span style="font-style: italic;">Callithrix geoffroyi</span>). One of the tamest wild animals, they are great favourites of tourists, eagerly taking fruit in their little hands. Without tourists, they have to fend for themselves, groups travelling up to 2 km through the forest. They eat fruit and any small creatures they can find, insects, snails or even frogs. They also eat a surprising amount of gum from trees and lianas, either gouging wounds in trees or searching for wounds made by insects. Gum apparently has a lot of carbohydrates, so it is sweet and gives lots of energy to little monkeys.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9rvlt3AmRMazpHRRO7270ySZVIoYSTpFXaIMQxDdl89k3S6rX8LG0EiSad7xemdemw2sgTPFf5CryB5rBXx7rSpHK8WcdHGCXjP1JFMup77iqLZVqkI_I1kcMr3gLn4tYAQ-ho0qzWc/s1600/DSC00676.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 414px; height: 313px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9rvlt3AmRMazpHRRO7270ySZVIoYSTpFXaIMQxDdl89k3S6rX8LG0EiSad7xemdemw2sgTPFf5CryB5rBXx7rSpHK8WcdHGCXjP1JFMup77iqLZVqkI_I1kcMr3gLn4tYAQ-ho0qzWc/s320/DSC00676.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667904991439565090" border="0" /></a><br />And saguis are little, which means they need lots of high energy food, but they can turn out to be food themselves. Hence the frequent nervous glances up to detect any eagles or falcons. Mothers carrying young seem to settle for fruit and gum, hunting for tasty insects takes too much attention, and they are too ungainly to bolt if needed. If predators appear there are basically two options. If they see a raptor, there is a brief cry and then they freeze still under cover. But if it is not immediately dangerous, a cat on the ground for instance, they will mob it - harassing it from above as a group and making loud "tsik" calls. Strangely, it has been shown that being part of a "mob" actually reduces rather than increases monkey stress - it is tempting to extrapolate that to humans!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIYmrEUwsxzIGgMkEauokUj2O6THAWicliJlSNN-rrG0IAgVyXwLJbDM7KmjinxLUT2OX2_Z7xsfDjjuShplcHnHDgCc8WfuY_FfOQHMSXalik67LzgEsMNJzjPJnjiBibG5qqVNr8oQ/s1600/DSC00664.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 396px; height: 339px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIYmrEUwsxzIGgMkEauokUj2O6THAWicliJlSNN-rrG0IAgVyXwLJbDM7KmjinxLUT2OX2_Z7xsfDjjuShplcHnHDgCc8WfuY_FfOQHMSXalik67LzgEsMNJzjPJnjiBibG5qqVNr8oQ/s320/DSC00664.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667905377623612882" border="0" /></a><br />One curiosity of saguis, and other new world monkeys, is that some individuals are trichomatic, and some dichromatic. What does this mean? Humans and higher apes have three different colour cells in their eyes, in combination they can distinguish up to 1 million colours. Most mammals have just two types, so can distinguish only about 10,000, kind of equivalent to colour blindness. So why are some monkeys one type, others another? Apparently trichromatic monkeys are better at finding fruit, especially when its red, but dichromatic monkeys see better in the low light of dawn and dusk, so it all balances out in the end.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDdYi371rjBZHykY69CPg2FiUFUeL8iGv4qouL-bk_5oYpoko1PCt3pb7hFfWeC8eoWppGUsbh-3gmsW77jVzDwBN8BXx_EMgAQPHpQWbwoEkmZW02Fa1lQQhmjaMgPf5QgzozZgCChk/s1600/DSC07342.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 405px; height: 351px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDdYi371rjBZHykY69CPg2FiUFUeL8iGv4qouL-bk_5oYpoko1PCt3pb7hFfWeC8eoWppGUsbh-3gmsW77jVzDwBN8BXx_EMgAQPHpQWbwoEkmZW02Fa1lQQhmjaMgPf5QgzozZgCChk/s320/DSC07342.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667905764534946802" border="0" /></a>Macaco verdehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740642299517969671noreply@blogger.com1