Associação entre mesoplasma sp e formigas da tribo Attini (Hymenoptera, formicidae)

As formigas da tribo Attini apresentam reconhecida simbiose com microrganismos: fungos mutualistas basidiomicetos nas famílias Lepiotaceae e Pterulaceae cultivados pelas formigas, bactérias actinomicetas ou no gênero Burkholderia produtoras de antibióticos contra fungos entomopatogênicos, fungos ascomicetos do gênero Escovopsis micófagos para o mutualista, e comensais como fungos, leveduras e bactérias que degradam celulose. Um novo mutualista é descrito no presente trabalho: uma espécie de bactéria no gênero Mesoplasma, detectada via PCR para 16S no DNA genômico de Attini derivadas (gêneros Acromyrmex, Atta, Serycomyrmex e Cyphomyrmex), intermediárias (Trachymyrmex) e basais (Apterostigma, Mycetarotes, Mycocepurus e Mycetagroicos). Uma única linhagem de Mesoplasma com baixíssima diversidade 16S esteve presente nas Attini, mas não em formigas de tribos filogeneticamente próximas a Attini, como Dolichoderini (Tapinoma sp), Camponotini (Camponotus sp), Cephalotini (Cephalotes sp), Crematogastrini (Crematogaster sp), Pheidolini (Pheidole sp) e Ponerini (Pachycondyla sp), indicando uma simbiose Mesoplasma-Attini recente e específica.

Big, bad, and beautiful: phylogenetic relationships of the horned frogs (Anura: Ceratophryidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Congruent spatial and temporal foraging by a dominant ant (Hym., Formicidae) and its replacement in an assemblage in a large urban structure in southeastern Brazil

At fixed bail stations in a large institutional setting in Brazil, the temporal and spatial pattern of usage of the dominant species of ant was studied. The ant Crematogaster cf. magnifica, was found in 91% of sampling points. These studies were conducted using the same points as a previous study of tile then dominant ant. Monomorium pharaonis, which was found to have declined from 93% to 3% spatial point occupation. The frequency of point usage during this study was significantly different from the Poisson distribution for both species, indicating non-random use of space. Crematogaster cf. magnifica was significantly more spatially exclusive than had been documented for M. pharaonis, and the probability of points originally occupied by M. pharaonis later becoming occupied by C. cf. magnifica was in excess of 90%. Temporal bait exploitation patterns of the two species did not differ. These data demonstrate that structural ant communities can change over time without human intervention, although short- term stability is characteristic of the urban dominant ants in subtropical Brazil.

Diversificação de anuros no Chaco Sul-Americano

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)