Assessments of tropical insect diversity largely lacks known groups from which appropriate interpretations can be made, and ultimately undervalues the taxa of some regions. The ecology of Diptera within the tropics constitutes largely on the roles of nutrient breakdown, recycling, and pollination; as numerous Orchidaceae rely on pseudocopulatory mechanisms for effective pollination. Our study was conducted to explore and investigate the nocturnal diversity of the Order Diptera, with a special emphasis on Mosquitoes (Family: Culicidae), across multiple habitat types. The study site is in Cocha Cashu biological station along the Manu River in the Manu National Park, Peru. Sampling was conducted in early September during the dry season where we sampled several areas of varying vegetation communities, canopy coverage, and disturbance: river-side sample, lake-side sample, second-growth forest, and high-altitude cloud forest. We hypothesized that the highest diversity of morphospecies would occur in closed canopy areas with closer proximity to water bodies. Insects were collected using traps baited with a visual lure and soiled socks. Samples were filtered of other insect orders and individual dipterans were categorized using visual differences and similarities to create morphospecies groupings. Due to numerous variables, primarily trap efficacy and testing, our sample size was limited and as a result, our data could be expanded upon for further collection and analysis. The proceeding decreases in samples across a time-scale is largely due to bait methods. Overall, our hypothesis was supported by results indicating a higher species richness and diversity at sites in dense canopy coverage in proximity to a larger water body. Calculated Shannon diversity indices of 1.574 at the river closed canopy sampling site compared to 0.689 in the open canopy river site. These results may reflect habitat affinities of Dipterans in the tropics. Future testing will allow for increased understanding of Diptera communities in the tropics, taxa, and environmental health using certain species as indicators.

Manu National Park in southeastern Peru is an incredibly bio-diverse national reserve at the meeting point of the Tropical Andes and the Amazon lowland rain forest, and an important location for tropical ecology research. Cocha Cashu Biological Station is one of few research locations in the Neotropical rain forest in which mammal communities remain almost completely undisturbed by human impact, including hunting and road construction. As a result, mammal population densities and compositions accurately reflect their natural environmental state. Among these mammals are fifteen known species of primates, and as major seed dispersers they play a critical role in the stability of the ecosystem. The aim of this study was to learn more about the behaviors of eight primate species within the Cocha Cashu trail system, during September of the dry season, using quantitative and qualitative observational methods. We used the focal sampling methods to quantify the proportions of time spent on daily activities for each species, and created activity budgets from this data to compare time spent on each activity. We also collected data on troop size, social interactions, habitat, and location throughout the day in order to compare and contrast the different groups. We were correct in our prediction that most species spent the largest proportion of time moving and feeding, but varied in other activity categories such as curiosity and aggressiveness. We found that there was significant overlap in the habitats and resources used by different species, but there were notable differences in foraging behaviors, troop size, canopy level, and the time of day designated to different activities.