Effect of carbon dioxide and cold anaesthesia on the hoarding behavior of the honeybee.

Hoarding behaviour of groups of newly emerged adult honeybees was measured after they had been exposed to CO2 for 10 min, or exposed to CO2 for long enough to immobilize them, or exposed to cold. Both CO2 and cold affected hoarding behaviour. Bees exposed to CO2 for 10 min initially hoarded less, and later hoarded more, than controls. The hoarding rate of bees exposed to CO2 only long enough to immobilize them, or exposed to cold, was generally depressed throughout the experiment. Due to the complex changes in hoarding that follow CO2 treatment, cold is judged to be the preferred anaesthetic for use in hoarding experiments

Reproductive isolation by different time of drone flight between Apis cerana (Fabricius, 1793) and Apis vechti (Maa, 1953)

In Sri Lanka the three honeybee species Apis florea, Apis cerana and Apis dorsata are found in the same biotope. The daily periods of drone flight were found to be specific O( ENIKGER and AW-YALGUN1ASE K,ERA 1976). According to NT RUETR (1988) this behavioral isolation is a more complete separation than the reproductive barrier between A. mellifera and A. cerana. The three honeybees, A. cerana, A. vechti and A. dorsata are naturally distributed in the same habitat. We compared the time of drone flight between these honeybees in Sabah (North East Borneo)

Effect of Anthropogenic Landscape Features on Population Genetic Differentiation of Przewalski's Gazelle: Main Role of Human Settlement

Anthropogenic landscapes influence evolutionary processes such as population genetic differentiation, however, not every type of landscape features exert the same effect on a species, hence it is necessary to estimate their relative effect for species management and conservation. Przewalski's gazelle (Procapra przewalskii), which inhabits a human-altered area on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the most endangered antelope species in the world. Here, we report a landscape genetic study on Przewalski's gazelle. We used skin and fecal samples of 169 wild gazelles collected from nine populations and thirteen microsatellite markers to assess the genetic effect of anthropogenic landscape features on this species. For comparison, the genetic effect of geographical distance and topography were also evaluated. We found significant genetic differentiation, six genetic groups and restricted dispersal pattern in Przewalski's gazelle. Topography, human settlement and road appear to be responsible for observed genetic differentiation as they were significantly correlated with both genetic distance measures [FST/(1−FST) and F′ST/(1−F′ST)] in Mantel tests. IBD (isolation by distance) was also inferred as a significant factor in Mantel tests when genetic distance was measured as FST/(1−FST). However, using partial Mantel tests, AICc calculations, causal modeling and AMOVA analysis, we found that human settlement was the main factor shaping current genetic differentiation among those tested. Altogether, our results reveal the relative influence of geographical distance, topography and three anthropogenic landscape-type on population genetic differentiation of Przewalski's gazelle and provide useful information for conservation measures on this endangered species

Colony relatedness in aggregations of Apis dorsata Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Apidae).

Apis dorsata colonies often form dense aggregations, with over 100 colonies sometimes seen in the same tree. Reasons for these aggregations are unknown, but one reasonable hypothesis is that colonies form a related family group. Here we show that 7 adjacent colonies sampled from a single branch of a tree (near Alor Setar in northern peninsular Malaysia) containing over 120 colonies were not related as mother/daughter. Thus the notion that aggregations arise through splitting of the first-arriving colonies can be rejected

A morphological comparison of the cavity dwelling honeybees of Borneo Apis koschevnikovi (Buttel-Reepen, 1906) and Apis cerana (Fabricius, 1793)

International audienc

REDISCOVERY OF APIS VECHTI (MAA, 1953): THE SABAN HONEY BEE

International audienc