Evaluation of the Neotropical Stingless Bee Melipona quadrifasciata (Hymenoptera: Apidae) as pollinator of greenhouse tomatoes

The Neotropical stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier was evaluated for pollinating tomatoes (variety Rodas; long-life hybrid) in greenhouses under plastic and with a hydroponic system and “organic concepts” in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Flowers not pollinated did not set any fruit. Pollination by bees plus manual pollination did not differ from either bee or manual pollination. Maximum fruit diameter, fruit height, and roundness (quotient between maximum fruit diameter and fruit height) were not significantly different between treatments, but fruit visited by M. quadrifasciata had 10.8% less seeds (dry mass) than manual pollination. This apparently low efficiency of M. quadrifasciata pollination was attributed to the overlap of only 30 min between highest bee foraging activity and highest flower stigma receptivity. Thus, it was concluded that M. quadrifasciata is a feasible pollinator of greenhouse tomatoes because of 1) the observed increase in fruit quality with lower mechanical injury than traditional manual pollination, 2) no significant decrease in fruit size, and 3) high price of such product in the market. Some considerations for sustainable use of M. quadrifasciata as greenhouse pollinator are presented. Although techniques for keeping captive colonies of M. quadrifasciata are currently available, the sole current method for acquiring new colonies is removing them from the forest, and if demand was created for large numbers of colonies for commercial use, techniques for captive rearing must be developed to prevent serious declines in wild populations.A abelha-sem-ferrão Neotropical Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier foi avaliada para a polinização de tomates hidropônicos (híbrido longa-vida variedade Rodas) em casas-de-vegetação sob plástico e com ‘conceitos orgânicos’ em Minas Gerais, Brasil. As flores não polinizadas não produziram frutos. A polinização pelas abelhas juntamente com a polinização manual não diferiu da polinização somente pela abelha ou somente manual. O diâmetro máximo e a altura dos frutos e sua circunferência (quociente entre o diâmetro máximo e a altura dos frutos) não foram significativamente diferentes entre os tratamentos, mas os frutos visitados por M. quadrifasciata apresentaram 10,8% menos sementes (peso seco) do que os polinizados manualmente. Esta eficiência aparentemente baixa de M. quadrifasciata como polinizador foi atribuída à sobreposição de apenas 30 min entre o pico máximo de forrageamento das abelhas e a maior receptividade do estigma das flores. Concluiu-se ser possível usar M. quadrifasciata como polinizador de tomates cultivados em casa-de-vegetação porque (i) houve aumento na qualidade dos frutos, considerando-se a diminuição das injúrias mecânicas quando comparada à polinização manual tradicional, (ii) não houve diminuição do tamanho do fruto e (iii) pelo alto preço deste produto no mercado. Algumas considerações sobre o uso sustentável de M. quadrifasciata como polinizador em casas-de-vegetação são apresentadas. Apesar de existirem técnicas para manter colônias de M. quadrifasciata em cativeiro, o único método para aquisição de novas colônias e a retirada delas da mata e, criando-se demanda por grande número delas para uso comercial, técnicas de criação em cativeiro necessitam ser desenvolvidas, o que poderia prevenir grandes declínios das populações naturais desta abelha

Rearing Africanized honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) brood under laboratory conditions

We developed a method for rearing larvae of Africanized bees under laboratory conditions to determine the amount of diet needed during larval development to obtain a worker bee. We started with larvae 18-24 h old, which were transferred to polyethylene cell cups and fed for five days. We found that the amount of diet needed for successful larval development was: 4, 15, 25, 50, and 70 mu L during the first to fifth days, respectively. The survival rate to the adult stage was 88.6% when the larvae received the daily amount of diet divided into two feedings, and 80% when they received only one feeding per day. The adult weight obtained in the laboratory, when the larvae received the daily amount of diet in a single dose, did not differ from those that were developed under field conditions (our control). All adults that we obtained in laboratory appeared to be normal. This technique has the potential to facilitate studies on brood pathogens, resistance mechanisms to diseases and also might be useful to test the impacts of transgenic products on honey bee brood.Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)FAPEMIGCNP

Sperm Morphology Of Mud Dauber Sceliphron Fistularium Dahlbom (hymenoptera: Apoidea: Sphecidae), As An Indication Of Bees Relation

The morphology of spermatozoon of Sceliphron fistularium is very similar to that described for bees. In particular, the response to E-PTA stains is similar to that observed in corbiculated Apidae, especially Meliponini bees. Spermatozoa measure 285 μm and are composed of 1) a bilayered acrosome (acrosomal vesicle and perforatorium); 2) a homogeneous and compact nucleus; 3) a 9+9+2 axoneme; 4) a rod-shaped centriolar adjunct; 5) two asymmetrical mitochondrial derivatives with paracrystalline material exclusively in the larger one, and 6) two accessory bodies. Only the accessory microtubules of axoneme and the paracrystalline material are E-PTA positive. Comparison of S. fistularium sperm to data on Hymenoptera corroborates their proximity with bees.373-4313321Alexandre, B.A., Michener, C.D., Phylogenetic studies of the families of short-tongued bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) (1995) Uni. Kan. Sci. Bull., 55, pp. 377-424Baccetti, B., Insect sperm cell (1972) Adv. Insect. Physiol., 9, pp. 315-397Baer, B., Schimid-Hempel, P., Hoeg, J.T., Boomsma, J.J., Sperm length, sperm storage and mating system characteristics in bumble-bees (2003) Ins. Soc., 50, pp. 101-108Baó, S.N., Gonçalves-simões, D.A., Lino-Neto, J., Sperm ultrastructure of the bees Exomalopsis (Exomalopsis) auropilosa Spinola 1853 and Paratetrapedia (Lophopedia) sp. Michener and Moures 1957 (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Apinae) (2004) J. Submicrosc. Cytol. Pathol., 36, pp. 23-28Bohari, R.M., Menke, A.S., (1976) Sphecidae Wasp of the World. A Generic Revision, p. 695. , University of California Press, BerkeleyBrothers, D.J., Phylogeny and classification of the aculeate Hymenoptera, with special reference to the Mutillidae (1975) Uni. Kan. Sci. Bull., 50, pp. 483-648Brothers, D.J., Phylogeny and evolution of wasps, ants and bees (Hymenoptera, Crysidoidea, Vespoidea and Apoidea) (1999) Zool. Scripta, 28, pp. 233-249Cruz-höfling, M.A., Cruz-Landim, C., Kitajima, E.W., The fine structure of spermatozoa from the honey bee (1970) An. Acad. Brás. Ciênc., 42, pp. 69-78Duchateau, M.J., Mariën, J., Sexual biology of haploid and diploid males in the bumble bee Bombus terrestris (1995) Ins. Soc., 42, pp. 255-266Fiorillo, B., Coelho, A.A.M., Lino-Neto, J., Báo, S.N., Structure and ultrastructure of the spermatozoa of Halictidade (2005) J. Submicrosc. Cythol. Pathol., , in pressHanson, P.E., Gauld, I.D., (1995) The Hymenoptera of Costa Rica, , Oxford University Press, New YorkHoage, T.R., Kessel, R.G., An electron microscope study of the process of differentiation during spermatogenesis in the drone honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) with special reference to centriole replication and elimination (1968) J Ultrastruct. Res., 24, pp. 6-32Jamieson, B.G.M., Dallai, R., Afzelius, B.A., (1999) Insects: Their Spermatozoa and Phylogeny, p. 555. , Scientific Publishers, Enfield, NH, USALanham, U.N., Evolutionary origin of bees (1981) J. NY Entomol. Soc., 88, pp. 199-209Lensky, Y., Ben-David, E., Schindler, H., Ultrastructure of the spermatozoa of the mature drone honey bee (1979) J. Apic. Res., 18, pp. 264-271Lino-Neto, J., Báo, S.N., Dolder, H., Structure and ultrastructure of the spermatozoa of Bephratelloides pomorum (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) (1999) Int. J. Insect Morphol. Embryol., 28, pp. 253-259Lino-Neto, J., Báo, S.N., Dolder, H., Structure and ultrastructure of the spermatozoa of Trichogramma pretiosum Riley and Trichogramma atopovirilia Oatman and Platner (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) (2000) Acta Zool. (Stockholm), 81, pp. 205-211Lino-Neto, J., Báo, S.N., Dolder, H., Sperm ultrastructure of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) (L) (Hymenoptera, Apidae) with emphasis on the nucleus-flagellum transition region (2000) Tissue Cell, 32, pp. 322-327Lino-Neto, J., Dolder, H., Ultrastructural characteristics of the spermatozoa of Scelionidae (HymenopteraPlatygastroidea) with phylogenetic considerations (2001) Zool. Scripta, 30, pp. 89-96Lino-Neto, J., Dolder, H., Redescription of sperm structure and ultrastructure of Trichogramma dendrolimi (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Trichogrammatidae) (2001) Acta Zool. (Stockholm), 82, pp. 159-164Lino-Neto, J., Dolder, H., Sperm structure and ultrastructure of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta Bauren (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) (2002) Tissue Cell, 34, pp. 124-128Lomholdt, O., On the origin of the bees (1982) Entomol. Scand., 13, pp. 185-190Melo, G.A.R., Phylogenetic relationships and classification of the major lineages of Apoidea (Hymenoptera), with emphasis on the crabronid wasps (1999) Uni. Kan. Sci. Bull., 14, pp. 1-55Michener, C.D., Family-group names among bees (1986) J. Kan. Ent. Soc., 59, pp. 219-234Michener, C.D., (2000) The Bees of the World, , Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and LondonNewman, T.M., Quicke, D.L.J., Sperm development in the imaginal testes of Aleiodes coxalis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) (1998) J. Hym. Res., 7, pp. 25-37Newman, T.M., Quicke, D.L.J., Ultrastructure of imaginal spermatozoa of sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) (1999) J. Hym. Res., 8, pp. 35-47Newman, T.M., Quicke, D.L.J., Ultrastructure of spermatozoa in Leptopilina (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea: Eucoilidae) (1999) J. Hym. Res., 8, pp. 197-203Newman, T.M., Quicke, D.L.J., Sperm development and ultrastructure of mature spermatozoa of Megalyra (Hymenoptera: Megalyroidea) (2000) J. Hym. Res., 9, pp. 62-70Peng, C.Y.S., Yin, C.M., Yin, L.R.S., Effect of rapid freezing and thawing on cellular integrity of honey bee sperm (1992) Physiol. Entomol., 17, pp. 269-276Peng, C.Y.S., Yin, C.M., Yin, L.R.S., Ultrastructure of honey bee, Apis mellifera sperm with special emphasis on the acrosomal complex following high-pressure freezing fixation (1993) Physiol. Entomol., 18, pp. 93-101Quicke, D.L.J., Ingram, S.N., Baillie, H.S., Gaitens, P.V., Sperm structure and ultrastructure in the Hymenoptera (Insecta) (1992) Zool. Scripta, 21, pp. 381-402Rothschild, L., The spermatozoa of the honey bee (1955) Trans. Roy. Ent. Soc. (London), 107, pp. 289-294Silveira, F.A., Melo, G.A.R., Almeida, E.A.B., (2002) Abelhas Brasileiras: Sistemática e Identificação, p. 253. , IDM Composição e Arte, Belo HorizonteWheeler, D.E., Crichton, E.D., Krutzsch, P.H., Comparative ultrastructure of ant spermatozoa (Formicidae: Hymenoptera) (1990) J. Morphol., 206, pp. 343-350Zama, U., (2003) Estudo Estrutural e Ultraestrutural Dos Espermatozóides Nas Tribos Apini, Bombini, Euglossini e Meliponini (Hymenoptera: Apinae), Com Considerações Filogenéticas, , PhD thesis. State University of Campinas, BrazilZama, U., Lino-Neto, J., Dolder, H., Ultrastructure of spermatozoa in Plebeia (Plebeia) droryana Friese (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponina) (2001) J. Hym. Res., 10, pp. 261-270Zama, U., Lino-Neto, J., Dolder, H., Structure and ultrastructure of spermatozoa in Meliponini (Stingless bees) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) (2004) Tissue Cell, 36, pp. 29-41Zama, U., Lino-Neto, J., Melo, S.M., Campos, L.A.O., Dolder, H., Ultrastructural characterization of spermatozoa in Euglossini bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apinae) (2005) Ins. Soc., 52, pp. 122-13

A RAPD marker associated with B chromosomes in Partamona helleri (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

The hymenopteran Partamona helleri is found in southwestern Brazil in the Mata Atlântica from the north of the state of Santa Catarina until the south of Bahia. This work shows that P. helleri can carry up to four B chromosomes per individual. In order to obtain more information about P. helleri B chromosomes, the RAPD technique was used to detect DNA fragments associated with these chromosomes. The results showed that the RAPD technique is useful to detect specific sequences associated with B chromosomes. One RAPD marker was identified, cloned and used as probe in a DNA blot analysis. This RAPD marker hybridized with sequences present only in individuals containing B chromosomes