Dynamics of foraging and recruitment behavior in the Asian subterranean termite Coptotermes gestroi (Rhinotermitidae)

The present study investigated the trail-following behavior of the subterranean termite Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann Rhinotermitidae) under laboratory conditions. The results showed that workers were the first to initiate the exploration to the food source. When food was discovered they returned to the nest laying a trail for recruiting nestmates to the food source. In this situation, workers always traveled significantly faster when returning from the arenas. Both workers and soldiers were recruited to the food source; however, the soldier/worker proportion was higher during the first phase of the recruitment. When no food was available, the number of recruited nestmates and the speed on their way back to the nest were significantly lower. The results also showed that scout foragers always laid trail pheromones when entering into unknown territories, and that chemical signals found in the food could induce workers of C. gestroi to increase their travel speed. Copyright © 2012 Alberto Arab et al.

Entomopathogens isolated from invasive ants and tests of their pathogenicity

Some ant species cause severe ecological and health impact in urban areas. Many attempts have been tested to control such species, although they do not always succeed. Biological control is an alternative to chemical control and has gained great prominence in research, and fungi and nematodes are among the successful organisms controlling insects. This study aimed to clarify some questions regarding the biological control of ants. Invasive ant species in Brazil had their nests evaluated for the presence of entomopathogens. Isolated entomopathogens were later applied in colonies of Monomorium floricola under laboratory conditions to evaluate their effectiveness and the behavior of the ant colonies after treatment. The entomopathogenic nematodes Heterorhabditis sp. and Steinernema sp. and the fungi Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, and Paecilomyces sp. were isolated from the invasive ant nests. M. floricola colonies treated with Steinernema sp. and Heterorhabditis sp. showed a higher mortality of workers than control. The fungus Beauveria bassiana caused higher mortality of M. floricola workers. However, no colony reduction or elimination was observed in any treatment. The defensive behaviors of ants, such as grooming behavior and colony budding, must be considered when using fungi and nematodes for biological control of ants. Copyright © 2012 Maria Fernanda Miori de Zarzuela et al.

Comparison of the ant assemblages in three phytophysionomies: Rocky field, secondary forest, and riparian forest - A case study in the state park of Ibitipoca, Brazil

Ant assemblages are almost all related with the vegetation composition and so can provide us important information for conservation strategies, which are especially relevant to an environmentally protected area. We sampled the ant fauna in three different phytophysionomies in order to verify if the composition of ant species is different among the areas, especially because one of the areas is a Rocky Field and there is little information about the ant fauna in this habitat. A total of 8730 individuals were registered and an NMDS analysis showed that the ant assemblies are different at the three phytophysionomies (Rocky Field, Riparian Forest, and Secondary Forest). This study shows that the species that compose the ant assemblies in different phytophysionomies are a reflex of the environment, supporting the hypothesis that the vegetational composition results in different compositions in the ant assembly. Vegetal composition is determinant in the formation of the litter and consequently in the occurrence of ant species that depend on this layer of organic matter for nesting and foraging. © 2012 Juliane Floriano Santos Lopes et al.

A caixa de Pandora: as deusas e o feminino no cinema

Pós-graduação em Artes - IA

Considerações sobre a influência do trabalho em relação ao desenvolvimento afetivo de crianças

Pós-graduação em Educação Escolar - FCLAR

Lineamentos da atividade mediadora em Vygotski

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Fundamentos teóricos da atividade de estudo como modelo didático para o ensino das disciplinas científicas

Pós-graduação em Educação para a Ciência - FC

Conduzir o banquete da vida: a presença feminina na obra de Muriel Spark

Pós-graduação em Letras - FCLAS

Entre o azedo e o doce: a personagem feminina idosa em contos de Clarice Lispector e Flávia Savary

Pós-graduação em Letras - FCLAS

A motivação do aprendiz para a aprendizagem escolar: a perspectiva histórico-cultural

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

O contexto afetivo-familiar de relações incestuosas entre irmãos

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

Diálogos entre feminilidade e maternidade: um estudo sob o olhar da mitologia e da psicanálise

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A formação do professor reflexivo sob o olhar da epistemologia marxiana

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

O pai, a psicanálise e a mitologia: um estudo sobre a função paterna e suas configurações no mundo contemporâneo

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

O lugar do afetivo no desenvolvimento da criança: implicações educacionais

This study, of theoretical nature, aims to analyse some propositions of Historic and Cultural psychology about human psyche, especially regarding the constitution of affective processes in relation to child development. Therefore, brings together some principles of Spinozist philosophy that underlie the Vigotskian thought about affections and postulates that, for this school of psychology, on the basis of human development are the social experience and subject-object relation, constitutive of cognitive and affective processes. The analyses developed over the text indicate that social mediators - signs and instruments - subsidize the formation of activity and consciousness in a process that legitimizes the historic and social origin of affective functions. The paper aims to highlight the role of education as a privileged place of access to knowledge capable of transforming ways of thinking, feeling and acting of children through the processes of teaching and learning.