Differences in the number of some antennal sensilla of four honey bee (Apis mellifera) types and comparisons with the defensive behaviour

The number of sensilla coeloconica, ampullacea and campaniformia of flagellomeres 3 to 10 of the antennae of workers of four honey bee types (Italian, Caucasian, African and Africanized) was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Comparisons of the four bee types showed that only African and Africanized honey bees did not differ from one another with respect to the number of sensilla coeloconica and ampullacea of flagellomere 10. African and Africanized honey bees and Caucasian and Italian honey bees also did not differ from one another in terms of flagellomere 9. In the other flagellomeres there were no differences among bee types. Italian and Caucasian honey bees differed from Africanized honey bees in terms of number of sensilla campaniformia on flagellomere 6, and Caucasian honey bees differed from African and Africanized honey bees in terms of flagellomere 3. Five significant but random correlation values were obtained between number of antennal sensilla and defensive behaviour in Africanized honey bees. Thus,there is no relationship between antennal structures and defence behaviour.

Structure determination of hydroxytrypargine: A new tetrahydro-beta-carboline toxin from the venom of the spider Parawixia bistriata

A new, highly active tetrahydro-p-carboline toxin from the spider Parawixia bistriata, the most-common species of social spider occurring in Brazil, was isolated. The new toxin was identified as 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6-hydroxy-beta-carboline (= N-[3-(2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-6-hydroxy-1H-pyrido[3,4-b]indol-1-yl)propyl]guanidine; 3). This type of alkaloid, not common among spider toxins, was found to be the most-potent constituent of the spider's chemical weaponry to kill prey. When P bistriata catch arthropods in their web, they apparently attack their prey in groups of many individuals injecting their venoms. In vivo toxicity assays with 3 demonstrated a potent lethal effect to honeybees, giving rise to clear neurotoxic effects (paralysis) before death. The compound's toxicity (LD50 value) was determined to be ca. 8 ng/g of honeybee. The investigation of the pharmacological properties and neurotoxic actions of 3 may be used in the future for the development of new drugs to be applied for pest control in agriculture.

Análise morfológica da glândula de veneno de Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) em populações de Mato Grosso do Sul

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Monoamine oxidase inhibitory activities of indolylalkaloid toxins from the venom of the colonial spider Parawixia bistriata: Functional characterization of PwTX-I

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

Temporal and morphological differences in post-embryonic differentiation of the mushroom bodies in the brain of workers, queens, and drones of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

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

Relationship among Apis mellifera L. stings, swarming and climate conditions in the city of Rio Claro, SP, Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Vitellogenin content in fat body and ovary homogenates of workers and queens of Melipona quadrifasciata anthidioides during vitellogenesis

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

Bee Visitors of Quaresmeira Flowers (Tibouchina granulosa Cogn.) in the Region of Dourados (MS-Brasil)

This research was developed in the center-urban area at the city of Dourados (MS), in Tibouchina granulosa trees, a plant popularly known as quaresmeira in Brazil. The floral visitors of this species were recorded in three daily periods: 7 - 8 a.m., 1 - 2 p.m. and 4 - 5 p. m. Bee visitors of those plants were collected with an entomological net when they landed on the flowers. The bees were anesthetized in a closed camera containing etila acetate, conserved in Dietrich ' s fixative and, soon afterwards, transferred to 70% ethyl alcohol for subsequent identification. Almost 300 specimens of Africanized Apis mellifera, Trigona spinipes and Tetragonisca angustula were collected. The presence of these three species of bees in the flowers of T. granulosa suggests that they can be considered the main floral visitors of that vegetal species. T. angustula workers did not visit the flowers of T. granulosa between 7 and 8 a.m., but they were the main floral visitors from 4 to 5 p.m. The workers of T. spinipes presented a very aggressive behavior against the Africanized A. mellifera workers on the quaresmeira flowers, defending the food sources with strength and efficiency and provoking a drastic reduction in the number of honeybee visits between 1 and 2 p.m. Nevertheless, they did not interfere in the opportunistic activity of foraging by T. angustula workers, mainly between 4 and 5 p.m. The most important result of this research was the detection of the Competitive Exclusion Principle between A. mellifera and T. spinipes species in relation to the foraging behavior, when they exploit the floral resources of T. granulosa.

Influence of the insecticide pyriproxyfen on the flight muscle differentiation of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

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

The chelation of metal ions by the acylpolyamine toxins from the web-spider Nephilengys cruentata: effects in the intoxication/detoxification of preys

Orb-web-spiders present a series of different strategies for prey capture, involving the use of different types of silk for web building, the use of adhesive traps in the webs, the secretion of toxic compounds to the spider's preys in the adhesive coating of the capture web and the biosynthesis of a wide range of structurally related acylpolyamine toxins in their venoms. The polyamine toxins usually block neuromuscular junctions and/or the central nervous system (CNS) of Arthropods, targeting specially the ionotropic glutamate receptors; this way these toxins are used are as chemical weapons to kill / paralyze the spider's prey. Polyamine toxins contain many azamethylene groups involved with the chelation of metal ions, which in turn can interact with the glutamate receptors, affecting the toxicity of these toxins. It was demonstrated that the chelation of Ni+2, Fe+2, Pb+2, Ca+2 and Mg+2 ions by the desalted crude venom of Nephilengys cruentata and by the synthetic toxin JSTX-3, did not cause any significant change in the toxicity of the acylpolyamine toxins to the model-prey insect (honeybees). However, it was also reported that the chelation of Zn+2 ions by the acylpolyamines potentiated the lethal / paralytic action of these toxins to the honeybees, while the chelation of Cu+2 ions caused the inverse effect. Atomic absorption spectrometry and Plasma-ICP analysis both of N.cruentata venom and honeybee's hemolymph revealed that the spider's venom concentrates Zn+2 ions, while the honeybee's hemolymph concentrates Cu+2 ions. These results are suggesting that the natural accumulation of Zn+2 ions in N. cruentata venom favors the prey catching and/or its maintenance in the web, while the natural accumulation of Cu+2 ions in prey's hemolymph minimizes the efficiency of the acylpolyamine toxins as killing/paralyzing tool.

Overview of Caste Differentiation in the Polistinae, Emphasizing the Neotropical Swarm-Founding Polistinae (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Epiponini)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Análise de caracteres morfológicos e comportamentais em abelhas africanizadas, caucasianas e em descendentes dos seus cruzamentos

Twetve external morphological traits and seven traits of food-gathering behavior were studied in africanized and caucasian (A. m. caucasica), bees. Discriminant analysis showed that neither the length of the fourth segment of the abdomen, nor bee weight can be considered as the traits with the highest discriminatory power between africanized and caucasian bees, with any in-bred bees. In the case of in-bred bees the discriminam traits had a lower interorbital width and time to reach the feeder. Multivariate comparisons between the data of in-bred colonies and twenty hibrid colonies, suggest dominance of the genes group of the africanized subspecies.

TELA EXCLUIDORA DE RAINHA NA PRODUÇÃO DE MEL E NA LONGEVIDADE DAS OPERÁRIAS em COLMEIAS DE Apis mellifera

Este trabalho tem como objetivos verificar as áreas de cria e alimento e a longevidade de operárias em colmeias de Apis mellifera, em apicultura fixa (mata) e migratória (laranja e eucalipto), sem (T1) e com (T2) tela excluidora de rainha. Foram utilizadas colmeias modelo Langstroth, com sobrecaixa. Na apicultura fixa, estas colmeias foram analisadas durante 476 dias e mapeadas a cada 30 a 45 dias para obtenção das áreas de cria e alimento. Na migratória, as colmeias foram analisadas antes e após a florada. Foi estudada também a longevidade das operárias, nos dois tratamentos. Os dados mostraram que em fluxo baixo de néctar (apicultura fixa, em mata), o uso de tela excluidora apresentou maior eficiência na separação do mel das crias. Entretanto, quando o fluxo de néctar foi alto (floradas de laranja e eucalipto), a tela excluidora não foi eficiente, pois as abelhas rapidamente preencheram os favos disponíveis no ninho inferior, misturando-o com cria. Observou-se também redução na longevidade das operárias das colmeias com tela excluidora, em dois dos três testes realizados. Este trabalho, desenvolvido em três locais diferentes, com plantas apícolas distintas evidenciou também a variabilidade e a grande influência ambiental no desenvolvimento das colônias de Apis mellifera.

Polinização em cultura de laranja (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck, var. Pera-Rio)

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

AVALIACAO DO EFEITO DO VENENO DE APIS MELLIFERA EM CULTURAS DE E. COLI, S. TYPHIMURIUM E Y. ENTEROCOLITICA TRATADAS COM BLEOMICINA

Apis mellifera bee venom (Africanized honey bee) was tested for the ability to protect against the lethal effect of bleomycin, an antibiotic and antineoplastic agent. Since the radioprotective effect of the venom has been observed on the other biological systems, in the present study the venom was applied to cultures of enterobacteria treated with bleomycin, a radiomimetic agent. The venom did not act as a protective agent against bleomycin in E. coli, S. typhimurium or Y. enterocolitica.