Papers by Julian Monge-Najera
The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera
At least seven locations have been proposed for the sonic mechanism of Hamadryas butterflies, whi... more At least seven locations have been proposed for the sonic mechanism of Hamadryas butterflies, which has not been identified to date. Using light microscopy, five species of Hamadryas (including a "mute" population) were compared with Siproeta stelenes, Ancirtia fatima and Ectima thecla, which do not emit audible sound. Three macrostructures were found exclusively inHamadryas: the abdominal rami, and in the forewings, a hemispheric membrane in the costal cell and the swollen base of the subcostal vein. Only the third appears to be related to sound emission (possibly, percussion by clapping the wings). Thus, the forewings appear to be the most feasible location for the sound emission mechanism in
Revista De Biologia Tropical, 1988
Resumen: Ellíquen Hypogymnia physodes se usa en Europa como especie patrón para evaluar la contam... more Resumen: Ellíquen Hypogymnia physodes se usa en Europa como especie patrón para evaluar la contaminación atmosférica. Su transplante experimental de Reutlingen (Alemania Federal) a San José (Costa Rica), mostró que sobrevive al menos de tres y medio a diez meses y que reacciona al medio tropical adquiriendo las características de coloración de las especies nativas.
Revista de Biología Tropical, 1998
Revista de Biología Tropical, 2015
Las Hamadryas son mariposas neotropicales que emiten sonido y pasan mucho tiempo posadas en árbol... more Las Hamadryas son mariposas neotropicales que emiten sonido y pasan mucho tiempo posadas en árboles, donde son crípticas. Se estudió cinco especies en Costa Rica y Panama. Cada especie tiene una altura característica para posarse. Se posaron menos del lado sur de los árboles y evitaron las partes soleadas en días calurosos. Los machos dejaron su percha para volar hacia otras Hamadryas y hacia "mariposas" de cartón. Cuando se retiró los machos de los árboles éstos fueron tomados con mucha mayor frecuencia por otros machos. La mayoría de las interacciones aéreas de H. femnia se dieron entre las 1 3 : 00 y las 1 5 :00 h y fueron más frecuentes en la estación lluviosa. De noche, los machos compartían los árboles. El sonido característico del grupo es producido por venas modificadas en las alas delanteras.
Revista de Biología Tropical, 2018
Detailed distribution maps for the major bromeliad genera native to Costa Rica were prepared base... more Detailed distribution maps for the major bromeliad genera native to Costa Rica were prepared bases on the collections in the three largest herbaria of the country and on citations from the literature. Most records are from the montane habitats, probably reflecting the frequent need for moisture by these plants. Vriesea ans Guzmania have been collected mostly in moist lowland habitats. In 1975, Burt-Utley and Utley had hypothesized that the Holdridge Life Zone System should fit the distribution of epiphytic bromeliads because soil (a factor not considered in the System) is not important in their occurrence. However, on average, species were absent in about half of the Life Zones where they were expected to occur according to the Holdridge classification. It is hypothesized that the System failed because epiphytic bromeliad distribution reflects factor interactions rather than humidity, light or temperature individually.
Velvet worms, or onychophorans, include placental species and, as a phylum, have survived all mas... more Velvet worms, or onychophorans, include placental species and, as a phylum, have survived all mass extinctions since the Cambrian. They capture prey with an extraordinary adhesive net that appears in an instant. The first naturalist to formally mention them was Lansdown Guilding (1797-1831), a British priest from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent. His life is as little known as the history of the field he initiated, onychophorology. This is the first general history of onychophorology, and I have divided it into half century periods. The beginning, 1826-1879, was defined by former students of great names in the history of biology, like Cuvier and von Baer. This generation included Milne-Edwars and Blanchard, and the greatest advances came from France, with smaller but still important contributions from England and Germany. In the 1880-1929 period, work concentrated in anatomy, behavior, biogeography and ecology, but of course the most important work was Bouvier’s mammoth monogra...
Revista De Biologia Tropical, 2015
The populations of pitvipers from south western Costa Rica, have traditionally been identified as... more The populations of pitvipers from south western Costa Rica, have traditionally been identified as Bothriechis schlegelii (Berthold). However, in 1954 E. H. Taylor described one specimen from the area as a new subspecies, B. schlegelii supraciliaris. Werrnan returned supraciliaris to synonymy with schlegelii four decades latero However, morphometry and color pattern in a SW Costa Rica population (25 specimens) differ from those of specimens (N=57) from other parts of Costa Rica and from descriptions of South American specimens. Here ihe epithet Bothriechis schlegelii supraciliaris Taylor 1954, is reestablished as a valid taxon and elevated to specific rank as B. supraciliaris stat.nov. It is closely related to B. schlegelii from which it differs by its color patterns based on a uniforrn ground color with polymorphic dorsal designs, and its lower counts of ventral and caudal scales.
Los liquenes son frecuentemente utilizados como biomonitores (bioindicadores y bioacumuladores) p... more Los liquenes son frecuentemente utilizados como biomonitores (bioindicadores y bioacumuladores) para evaluar la calidad atmosferica, debido a su longevidad y porque obtienen la mayor parte de sus nutrientes del aire, lo que los hace muy sensibles a las impurezas presentes en el medio. Ellos se emplean como biomonitores cuando se realiza un mapeo de todas las especies presentes en un area especifica o se estudian a lo largo del tiempo para comparar los resultados con valores promedio y por bioacumulacion cuando se hace un muestreo de las especies liquenicas y se miden, por medio de analisis quimicos, los contaminantes acumulados en sus talos. Tras revisar la ultima literatura publicada a nivel mundial, se concluye que el dioxido de azufre y el dioxido de nitrogeno son los principales contaminantes presentes en la atmosfera y ellos influyen en el crecimiento, distribucion y salud de los liquenes. Africa y Oceania son las regiones donde menos trabajos recientes existen en el campo.
Revista De Biologia Tropical, 2015
The intluence of wing length on mate preference was exanuned in natural populations of the Neotro... more The intluence of wing length on mate preference was exanuned in natural populations of the Neotropical guaya fruit tly, Anastrepha striata Schiner, at two locations in Costa Rica. Based on evidence that the fungi are transmitted during mating, site-specific infection by Laboulbeniales fungi on the body surface was used to assess mating history. At both.sites, males and females that carrled fungi on the legs andlor on the ventral part of the thorax (males), and on both sides of the notum andlor the dorsal base of the abdomen (females), had significantly longer wings than males and females without fungi. This suggests that individuals of both sexes with longer wings (i.e. larger individuals) enjoy higher mating success. Fungus infection is more frequent in the wet than in the seasonally dry forest, possibly because hosts are .available year-roimd in the wet forest.
In the United States of America, wildlife mortality caused by automotive vehicles has received at... more In the United States of America, wildlife mortality caused by automotive vehicles has received attention by management experts for almost a century (Knutson 1987). Art estimate suggests that during a single holiday, one million vertebrates may die in the USA for this reason alone (Jackson 1986). In England, the main cause of mortality for some wildlife species is vehicle traffic (Sleeman et al 1985). This indicates the importance of including road killings among management considerations. A review of the factors mentioned by McClure (1951) and Knutson (1987) suggested that a species is affected by road mortality according to concentration, tendency to cross, avoidance capacity and traffic pressure. Habitat features such as attractive vegetation or food availability may concentrate wildlife near roads, increasing mortality (McClure 1951). Animals cross roads more often when the weather is appropriate, during migrations, when they are young and inexperienced, etc. (Knutson 1987). The sexes and ages are affected differentially according to their tendency to move onto the road (Sleeman 1988). Species with poor senses and slow movements are more probable victims, while alert and rapid animals such as coyotes and vultures are rarely killed (Jackson 1986). This explains why often a few species represent most of the casualties (McClure 1951). Areas of denser and faster traffic have higher mortality rates (Knutson 1987). Interestingly, very wide highways may have very low mortality rates because some animals avoid crossing them (Garland and Bradley 1984). In temperate countries, studies on this subject increased substantially after the 1970's (Rosen and Lowe 1994), but very few (if any) publications deal with the tropics. This report analyses road and highway casualties of both wild and domestic vertebrates in Costa Rica. Throughout 1993, road and highway vertebrate casualties (song-bird sized or larger) were recorded from a car usually moving at 70 km/hr or less. Whenever possible, the victims were identified to species in situ. This method underestimates counts (perhaps by 10%, Scott 1938) but is the only practical procedure when hundreds of kilometers are examined. Eight observers participated in the study. To avoid unnecessary assumptions, casualties per km were calculated according to the total amount of km covered in the habitats (Pacific, Middle, or Caribbean) where that species is known to occur. Although it was not possible to sample systematically, the data cover reasonably the whole country (Fig. 1), including national parks. A total of 10,250 km of highway were sampled: 3,837 in Pacific lowland vegetation; 5,316 in middle and high elevations (mainly seasonal moist vegetation); and 1,097 km in Caribbean lowland vegetation. By total number of individuals (Table 1), the most affected species were the domestic carnivores Canis familiaris and Felis domesticus, and two wildlife species, Didelphis marsupial is and Tamandua mexicana. If the number of individuals per km is considered, the same two domestic species occupy first place, while wildlife species have relatively low mortality rates (Table 1). Both in number of affected species and in total number of individuals, most casualties were mammals, followed at a distance by birds and then by reptiles; amphibians were rarely recorded (Table 1). The relatively high number of C. familiaris and F. domesticus in the counts was predictable because their domestic nature concentrates them near humans, who are associated with automotive traffic (Knutson 1987, McClure 1951). The same applies to Didelphis marsupialis which has become an urban species, but I have no idea why Tamandua mexicana is also commonly killed, other than because of its relatively slow movements. The lack of information about relative abundances of amphibians, birds and reptiles near the sampled routes prevents a meaningful discussion about their representation in these counts. However, birds were the vertebrates I most commonly saw crossing roads and highways (81% against 19% mammals, 1993, n=53 animals). Their ability to escape by rapid flight seems to explain why they are underepresented in casualty counts. As no information on vertebrate road casualties from tropical regions was found in the literature, results from this study were compared with equivalent records from Ireland and the USA (after recalculating all data in individuals/km). The comparative information appears in Fig. 2 and is based on Scott (1938) and McClure (1951). For cats, dogs, black rats and vertebrates in general, mortality in Costa Rican roads and highways is lower than in Ireland (Sleeman et at. 1985). In the USA, where relative traffic density and speed are higher than in Costa Rica, casualty rates often are many times those given in Table I (Jackson 1986, Knutson 1987, McClure 1951). The predominance of mammals among Costa Rican casualties is similar to counts made in Nebraska almost half a century earlier (McClure 1951), but very different from even earlier counts in Iowa, where birds were predominant (Scott 1938). Unfortunately, equivalent but more recent counts and ecological data on this regard are not available for either country. Road casualty studies are likely to underestimate taxa of small body size such as rodents and invertebrates, which may also be significantly affected by traffic (Seibert and Conover 1991). For example, in Costa Rica, thousands of the pierid butterflies, Eurema sp., died during the Dec. 1993 migration over Guanacaste highways (pers. obs.). To improve the methodology I suggest considering both invertebrates and the effect of this sampling procedure. Hopefully, this report will inspire more studies in tropical areas.
espanolAproximadamente en el ano de 1938, la United Fruit Company instala una de las ciudades div... more espanolAproximadamente en el ano de 1938, la United Fruit Company instala una de las ciudades division en Golfito, en el Pacifico Sur de Costa Rica, y construye un conjunto urbano flanqueado por una Fila Montanosa y una pequena Bahia rodeada de manglares. En este documento se analizan los patrones de cambio en dicho paisaje, desde sus variables culturales y ambientales a partir de la repeticion fotografica. Se seleccionaron 14 fotografias correspondientes a la decada de 1950, cada una fue repetida desde la ubicacion original y fue analizada mediante el metodo de plantilla y la aplicacion de indicadores. Una reduccion relevante en la cobertura de zonas verdes urbanas fue identificada, en contraste con un aumento en la cobertura de bosque. Se identifico una baja presencia de equipamientos urbanos, el desmejoramiento parcial en las tipologias arquitectonicas tradicionales y una baja adaptacion a las condiciones tropicales en la arquitectura contemporanea de la ciudad. La gestion territ...
In a study of the ecology of epiphyllous liverworts in a Tropical lower montane et forest, it was... more In a study of the ecology of epiphyllous liverworts in a Tropical lower montane et forest, it was found that the degree of epiphyllic cover and herbivory are generally higher in larger leaves, vhich indicates that both behave as functions of area. The epiphyllic growth and area consumed by herbivores increase more rapidly than leaf area, and there is no statistical relationship between epiphyllv, and herbivory and leaf shape. Absolute and relative epiphyllic cover are higher in the forest clearing than in the understory, perhaps as a result of high atmospheric humidity and occurrence of heliophilic species. This quantitative survey approach is convenient for two reasons: it provides a defined view of actual field conditions and serves as a guide to posterior experimental corroboration. RESUME - Letude de lecologie des hepatiques epiphylles en foret tropicale humide de basse altitude permet de mettre en evidence que Ic recouvrement par les Cpiphylles et l'action des herbivores so...
Recientemente se ha vuelto urgente comprender que es, como se hace y que aspectos positivos y neg... more Recientemente se ha vuelto urgente comprender que es, como se hace y que aspectos positivos y negativos tiene la des-extincion de especies. En este articulo se resume, en lenguaje sencillo, los avances mas recientes en este campo con base en la literatura cientifica. El primer proyecto para resucitar especies extintas se inicio en Alemania en 1920 con el tarpan (Equus ferus ferus), y el uro (Bos primigenius) usando la tecnica de entrecruzamiento desarrollada por los hermanos Heck. Mas recientemente se han propuesto otras tecnicas, como el uso de semen u ovulos congelados de restos articos, la clonacion de tejidos de museos y la manipulacion de ADN con ingenieria genetica. Algunas especies costarricenses que se extinguieron pero teoricamente podrian resucitarse son el sapo dorado de Monteverde (Incilius periglenes), el sapo de Chirripo (Atelopus chirripoensis), el sapo del Pico Blanco (Incilius fastidiosus), el caracol escazuceno (Velifera gabbi), el tigre dientes de sable (Smilodon ...
Revista de Biología Tropical, 2021
Introduction: In contrast with other tropical countries, Cuba has been frequently studied from th... more Introduction: In contrast with other tropical countries, Cuba has been frequently studied from the point of views of scientometrics. It has been reported that Cuban researchers often failed to cite other Cuban researchers or to collaborate with them, and that 78 % of the Cuban scientifc output is published in Cuban journals and mostly missed by Scopus and the Web of Science. Objective: In this article, we analyze article characteristics (subject, language, authorship), institutions and journals that appear in the Science Citation Index Expanded, as well as citations from the Web of Science Core Collection. Methods: We analyzed publications from Cuba, dated 1900 to 2019, that reached the index. Results: We retrieved a total of 23576 publications, mostly articles. In this database, English is the dominant language, and, over time, articles have become longer and increased the number of authors and references. Numerically, the leading institution is Universidad de La Habana. Research i...
Revista de Biología Tropical, 2017
In contrast with other countries of the Central America biodiversity “hotspot”, El Salvador has r... more In contrast with other countries of the Central America biodiversity “hotspot”, El Salvador has received considerable attention from the scientometrics point of view. According to previous studies, the country is unusual in its strong concentration of research funds in the social sciences, and in the unexpectedly low productivity and visibility of its scientific institutions. We only found 788 publications with El Salvador authors in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) until 2015, mostly in English and about health, environment and agriculture. Articles have more authors than previously found for the rest of Central America. The fact that two historically important articles were written exclusively by Salvadoran scientists indicates the potential for high level science that the country has had at least since 1940. Scientific productivity and international collaboration are improving, but the whole productivity and impact of scientific institutions of El Salvador remai...
Revista de Biología Tropical, 1969
Normally, butterfly behavior and population size are studied intensively for brief periods or occ... more Normally, butterfly behavior and population size are studied intensively for brief periods or occasionally for long periods, not in detail for long periods, producing an incomplete view in bolh cases. How time limitation affects studies has been unknown for a long time. This paper analyses this problem based on an intensive long term study of Vanessa atalanta (L.) that covered nearly 8000 days, most of them consecutive, for 22 years (Apri1 15, 1977- Apri1 14, 1999), in a subtropical habitat near Orlando, Florida. There is no evidence Ihat ethological studies are affected by their normally brief duration (one year or less), but the analysis of yearly values hid the associations of number of individuals and arrival time with climate. In small areas, isolated population counts lasting less Ihan two weeks are not reliable, according to this study. We found no difference in number of visitors for El Niño years. The daily number of visitors was inversely correlated with temperature and pr...
Revista de Biología Tropical, 2019
Lichens are traditionally divided into types such as…
Revista de Biología Tropical, May 24, 2018
Revista de Biología Tropical, 2018
Significant amounts of economic resources are spent by poor countries for access to scientific ... more Significant amounts of economic resources are spent by poor countries for access to scientific information that is blocked by pay-walls, and when fees are corrected for local economies, they can be the equivalent of hundreds of dollars per article. Pay-walls, is controlled by a small group of companies in rich countries, block knowledge from the societies that need it most. These companies should adjust their fees according to local economies: this would be fairer and would benefit everyone, including the same companies.
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Papers by Julian Monge-Najera