Melissa Díaz-Morales

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology | ice · Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology

Sex pheromones play a crucial role in species recognition and reproductive isolation. Despite being largely species-specific in drosophilids, the mechanisms underlying pheromone detection, production, and their influence on mating behavior remain poorly understood. Here, we compare the chemical profiles of Drosophila bipectinata and D. melanogaster...

Variation in sex pheromones is regarded as one of the causes of reproductive isolation and speciation. We recently identified 51 male- and female-specific compounds – many of which function as sex pheromones – in 99 drosophilid species [1]. Here, we report that despite many of these compounds being shared between species, their quantities differ si...

The fourth release of the series "New Species and Records of Orchidaceae from Costa Rica" documents and illustrates 17 taxa of the Costa Rican orchid flora. The new species records belong to the subtribes Pleurothallidinae (9 spp.), Maxillariinae (3 spp.), and Oncidiinae (2 spp.), including the description of two new species in Pleurothallis and Te...

Variation in sex pheromones is regarded as one of the causes of reproductive isolation and speciation. We recently identified 51 male- and female-specific compounds – many of which function as sex pheromones – in 99 drosophilid species ¹ . Here, we report that despite many of these compounds being shared between species, their quantities differ sig...

We discuss a group of Pleurothallis species mostly characterized by plants relatively tall for the genus, with stems more than 20 cm long and fasciculate inflorescences produced above the leaf from a spathaceous, sometimes erect bract. We recognize 26 species and 4 natural hybrids in Costa Rica in this group of Pleurothallis, belonging to 4 informa...

A new species of Phragmipedium section Lorifolia, P. cabrejosii, is described and illustrated from Peru, and its affinities are discussed. It is mainly compared with P. caricinum, from which it is distinguished by the simple inflorescence, the elliptic dorsal sepal, that is apically white, the shorter, apically twisted pale yellow petals tinged wit...

Phragmipedium is a genus with 21 species restricted to the tropics and subtropics from Central and South America. As it is a genus capable of producing seeds from both self-and cross-pollinated flowers, it is an ideal group to investigate the components of its reproductive success. In this research, some of those components are described in P. long...

Phragmipedium is a genus with 21 species restricted to the tropics and subtropics from Central and South America. As it is a genus capable of producing seeds from both self- and cross-pollinated flowers, it is an ideal group to investigate the components of its reproductive success. In this research some of those components are described in P. long...

The generic and subgeneric classification of Pleurothallidinae has traditionally been a hazardous task. The main challenge has been understanding the underlying relationships of the immensely diverse, +5100 accepted species in the subtribe. Species groups that could be easily separated from others by means of specific floral traits have been shown...

The taxonomic history of Phragmipedium × grande is traced to show that its current treatment as the cross between P. longifolium and P. humboldtii is untenable. According to our interpretation of the holotype and other materials prepared from specimens of the original cross, the name Phragmipedium × grande, as well as its counterpart, the orchid gr...

Species Orchidacearum is a serial publication. It is published in volumes, freely available online, and peer-reviewed. Icons from any author are received, they may treat any species of the Orchidaceae family, from any country, previously published or not, as long as they comply with the author’s instructions. The main goal of the series is to make...

Two new species of Pleurothallis subsection Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae from Costa Rica, allied to P. cardiothallis, are described and illustrated, and their relationships discussed. Pleurothallis scotinantha is compared with P. oncoglossa, from which it can be easily distinguished by the concolorous, dark purple flowers , the distinctly deflexed pet...

Stelis dies-natalis y Stelis aenigma, pertenecientes a un grupo de especies en su mayoría Centroamericanas colocadas alternativamente en el género Dracontia, son descritas e ilustradas basadas en material vivo. Ambas se encontraron en robledales de altura en diferentes picos de la Cordillera de Talamanca en Costa Rica. La primera, S. dies-natalis,...

Two new species of Pleurothallis subsection Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae from Costa Rica are described and illustrated, and their relationships discussed. Pleurothallis pudica, from the central Pacific mountain region, is compared with P. phyllocardia, but it is easily recognized by the densely pubescent- hirsute flowers. Pleurothallis luna-crescens,...

Abstract. The Swiss botanist Adolphe Tonduz worked in Costa Rica from 1889 to 1920. For 20 years he carried out important activities as a plant collector and the curator of the largest Costa Rican herbarium beginning at the Instituto Físico-Geográfico Nacional, and later at the National Museum. A large number of new species of Orchidaceae are found...

The phylogenetic relationships within the Acianthera affinity are re-evaluated using Bayesian analyses of nrITS and chloro- plast matK sequence data. Emphasis is made on species from the Antilles, Central America and the Andean South America as those have been less represented in previous studies. Acianthera is retrieved largely monophyletic, but i...

The Swiss botanist Adolphe Tonduz worked in Costa Rica from 1889 to 1920. For 20 years he carried out important activities as a plant collector and the curator of the largest Costa Rican herbarium beginning at the Instituto Físico-Geográfico Nacional, and later at the National Museum. A large number of new species of Orchidaceae are found among his...

Two new species of Epidendrum from the Costa Rican montane rainforest, E. hartmanniorum and E. vallis-silentii, are de- scribed, illustrated and compared with similar species. Epidendrum stolidium and E. unicallosum are reported as new records of this genus for the country.