A new species of Aleiodes (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae) from Brazil, with biological notes

Aleiodes Wesmael is the most diverse rogadine genus, with koinobiont endoparasitic development in Lepidoptera caterpillars resulting in mummification of the host remains. Aleiodes japi sp. nov. is described and illustrated. Type specimens of the new species were reared from Physocleora grosica and Ischnopteris sp. (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae) larvae. Host larvae were collected on Alchornea triplinervia (Euphorbiaceae) at the Reserva Biológica Municipal da Serra do Japi, Jundiaí, São Paulo, Brazil. This is the second species of circumscriptus/gastritror group described from Brazil.

New genera and subgenera of augochlorine bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) / by Michael S. Engel, Robert W. Brooks, and Douglas Yanega.

no.5

Phylogenetic relationships and classification of the major lineages of Apoidea (Hymenoptera) : with emphasis on the crabronid wasps / by Gabriel A. R. Melo.

no.14

Journal of Hymenoptera research.

v. 4, 1995

Pseudogynes (=sécrétergates) et répartition des individus à l'intérieur d'une fourmilière de Formica lugubris Zett (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Following the discovery of numerous pseudogynes (= secretergates) in a polycalic colony ofFormica lugubris Zett, the author describes the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the distribution of individuals inside the nest. Workers are distributed in three clusters, the first (21 %) could consist of foragers, living in the upper part of the nest, and is distinguished by a low percentage of secretergates (1 %). The two others contain mainly domestic workers. Queens inhabit two areas (intermediate and deep). The percentage of secretergates increases with depth in the nest. Measurements of normal workers and secretergates show that the latter are significantly smaller.

Etudes de quelques facteurs influençant la fécondité des reines de Wasmannia auropunctata R. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Il existe dans les sociétés polygynes de la petite fourmi de feu Wasmannia auropunctata, une très grande variation de la fécondité des reines. Ceci est dû en partie, à des facteurs individuels comme l'âge des reines et à des facteurs sociaux comme la composition de la société (quantité et qualité du couvain).

Presença de material eletrodenso sob a membrana vitelina do ovo de Scaptotrigona postica latr. (Hymenoptera, Meliponinae) durante a fase inicial da embriogenese

The present paper reports the presence of an electrondense material of unknown nature distributed under the viteline membrane of Scaptotrigona postica egg. The dorsal side layer is thicker then the ventral one. In eggs newly oviposited the material is gradually distributed inside the plasmalema invaginations. Later on (12 hs after oviposition) when a blastoderm is already formed around the egg, the material moves to the intercellular space. On the sequence of the development there was no more indication of the material under the membrane.

Split sex ratios in the social Hymenoptera: a meta-analysis

The study of sex allocation in social Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) provides an excellent opportunity for testing kin-selection theory and studying conflict resolution. A queen-worker conflict over sex allocation is expected because workers are more related to sisters than to brothers, whereas queens are equally related to daughters and sons. If workers fully control sex allocation, split sex ratio theory predicts that colonies with relatively high or low relatedness asymmetry (the relatedness of workers to females divided by the relatedness of workers to males) should specialize in females or males, respectively. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the magnitude of adaptive sex allocation biasing by workers and degree of support for split sex ratio theory in the social Hymenoptera. Overall, variation in relatedness asymmetry (due to mate number or queen replacement) and variation in queen number (which also affects relatedness asymmetry in some conditions) explained 20.9% and 5% of the variance in sex allocation among colonies, respectively. These results show that workers often bias colony sex allocation in their favor as predicted by split sex ratio theory, even if their control is incomplete and a large part of the variation among colonies has other causes. The explanatory power of split sex ratio theory was close to that of local mate competition and local resource competition in the few species of social Hymenoptera where these factors apply. Hence, three of the most successful theories explaining quantitative variation in sex allocation are based on kin selection.

The Type Specimens of Apoidea (Hymenoptera) Deposited in the Entomological Collection of Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

A list of 41 Apoidea (Hymenoptera) type specimens deposited in the Entomological Collection of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil is presented. The types previously belonged to the Zikán and Schrottky private collections. A total of 11 holotypes and 30 paratypes are listed with their respective data and literature