Camponotus renggeri (Formicidae) predated Agelaia vicina (Vespidae) nest and occupied Parachartergus pseudapicalis (Vespidae) nest

Ants prey on social wasps affecting the evolution of nest architecture, defense behaviors, and selection of nesting sites of these insects. The importance of social wasps in natural and agricultural ecosystems, especially in biological control, justifies studies on predation of these insects by ants. The objective of this work is to report the colony predation of the social wasp Agelaia vicina (de Saussure, 1854) and the nest occupation of Parachartergus pseudapicalis Willinck, 1959 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) by the ant Camponotus renggeri Emery, 1894 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Atlantic Forest biome. The records occurred in 2015 and 2018 in southern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. This is the first record of C. renggeri preying on and occupying social wasp nests. This relationship between social wasps and ants constitutes an adaptation for the survival of these latter insects, and the limited number of records increases the need for research on the relevance of this phenomenon to the ecology of Atlantic Forest Hymenoptera

Mutillidae no PARNA Grande Sertão Veredas, em área de Cerrado, Minas Gerais, Brasil

The Cerrado is home to high biodiversity, high rate of endemic and endangered species, but the biome is threatened by various human activities. Therefore, it is considered a global hotspot, being a priority area for conservation on the planet. This condition justifies studies to better understand the biodiversity, distribution and occurrence of different taxon, such as solitary wasps of the Mutillidae family (Hymenoptera). Therefore, the objective of this work is to report the occurrence of Mutillidae in the Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas, in Cerrado area. The occurrence of 18 species and morphospecies of seven genera of Mutillidae was recorded. The most abundant species was Traumatomutilla bifurca, and there is also a new record for the state of Minas Gerais of Traumatomutilla ipanema, which, together with the community sampled, this strengthens the park's role in conserving the biodiversity of the Mutillidae family in Cerrado areas.O Cerrado abriga elevada biodiversidade, altas taxas de endemismo e espécies ameaçadas de extinção, entretanto o bioma é ameaçado por diversas atividades humanas. Por isso, é considerado um hotspot global, sendo uma área prioritária para a conservação no planeta. Essa condição justifica a realização de estudos para melhor compreender a biodiversidade, distribuição e ocorrência de diferentes táxons, como as vespas solitárias da família Mutillidae (Hymenoptera). Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho é relatar a ocorrência de Mutillidae no Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas, em área de Cerrado. Foi registrada a ocorrência de 18 espécies e morfoespécies de sete gêneros de Mutillidae. A espécie mais abundante foi Traumatomutilla bifurca, e há também um novo registro para o estado de Minas Gerais de Traumatomutilla ipanema que juntamente com a comunidade amostrada, reforça o papel do parque na conservação da biodiversidade da família Mutillidae em áreas de Cerrado

Record of Pompilidae (Hymenoptera, Pompiloidea) in a deciduous forest in Minas Gerais, Brazil

There is little information about the Pompilidae fauna in Brazil’s Deciduous Forests and no reports about how this taxon manifests itself in the Mata Seca State Park (PEMS), which is considered one of the most important for the protection of this forest in Brazil. This work was carried out to record the occurrence of Pompilidae in the Deciduous Forest of the PEMS. The records were occasionally taken in the PEMS during 24 days in 2021. A total of 16 individuals of two genera, four species, and three morphospecies of Pompilidae were collected. The Pepsis albocincta Smith, 1855; Pepsis apicata Taschenberg, 1869; Pepsis decorata Perty, 1833; and Entypus taschenbergii (Dalla Torre, 1897) species are new to Brazil’s dry forest, which reaffirms the importance of the PEMS in ensuring the protection of biological diversity in the Deciduous Forests of Brazil

Diversity of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) in an Agricultural Environment in Bambuí, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Studies on the diversity of social wasps in agricultural environments represent an important step to identifying the ideal species to be used in biological pest control programs. There is a growing effort to acknowledge the diversity of such Hymenoptera in the state of Minas Gerais, but information on anthropized environments is still rare. The objective of this study was to obtain data on the diversity of social wasps in the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciências e Tecnologia de Minas Gerais (IFMG), Bambuí campus, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Sampling was conducted from July 2012 to July 2014 with two methodologies: attractive traps and active search. This work confirms that a well diversified environment, even if anthropized, is rich in social wasp species. In addition, the great number of collected species, shows the importance of a long-term survey and the use of more than one method of collection. The high rate of collections of Polistes versicolor in a predominantly agricultural environment, coupled with other studies on this species as a predator of lepidopteran caterpillars, suggests the use of this species as a tool in the biological control of pests

Social Wasps on Eugenia uniflora Linnaeus (Myrtaceae) Plants in the Urban Area of Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of the subfamily Polistinae, being biological pest control agents, can effectively participate in ongoing efforts to limit the use of chemical agents used in combating insect pests in urban forestry. The objective of the study, conducted in Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, in May 2011, was aimed at identifying species of this group foraging on Eugenia uniflora Linnaeus (Myrtaceae) plants. The study area was monitored once a week, even as data on social wasps foraging on plants of E. uniflora were collected. The data collected included study of their daily activity pattern, diversity, dominance and overlap of temporal niches relating to species of this group. Data analysis revealed that E. uniflora plants were visited by 217 individuals of 16 species of the subfamily Polistinae. Foraging behavior of social wasps bore no relationship with sampling time, but overlap of temporal niche was high. It was observed that the species of social wasps did not damage healthy fruits, but they were probably searching for Lonchaeidae and Tephritidae larvae. It is important to preserve the diversity of these predators, since they are potentially important as a partial alternative to environmentally degrading chemical pesticides currently used in urban forestry for pest control

Population analysis of vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and the role of genetic ancestry in an admixed population

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is an essential protein related to bone metabolism. Some VDR alleles are differentially distributed among ethnic populations and display variable patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD). In this study, 200 unrelated Brazilians were genotyped using 21 VDR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 28 ancestry informative markers. The patterns of LD and haplotype distribution were compared among Brazilian and the HapMap populations of African (YRI), European (CEU) and Asian (JPT+CHB) origins. Conditional regression and haplotype-specific analysis were performed using estimates of individual genetic ancestry in Brazilians as a quantitative trait. Similar patterns of LD were observed in the 5′ and 3′ gene regions. However, the frequency distribution of haplotype blocks varied among populations. Conditional regression analysis identified haplotypes associated with European and Amerindian ancestry, but not with the proportion of African ancestry. Individual ancestry estimates were associated with VDR haplotypes. These findings reinforce the need to correct for population stratification when performing genetic association studies in admixed populations

The Politics and Aesthetics of Non-Representation: Re-Imagining Ethnographic Cinema with Apichatpong Weerasethakul

This article argues that the work of Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul offers conceptual and methodological tools that may contribute to the re-imagination of ethnographic cinema beyond representation. Weerasethakul’s films emerge out of a para-ethnographic engagement with people and places, rely on participatory methods and operate as hosting devices for a multiplicity of subaltern beings and stories. They enact an inventive and often animistic “performative realism” (Ingawanij 2013a) which can be understood as political in the sense that it creates new conditions of possibility and room for alter-ontologies. The article conceptualizes this orientation in relation to the production of “assemblages of collective enunciation” (Deleuze and Guattari 1986) as well as to Eduardo Viveiros de Castro’s (2010) idea of “taking seriously” the ontology of others, that is, the other worlds that they experience

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ECMO for COVID-19 patients in Europe and Israel

Since March 15th, 2020, 177 centres from Europe and Israel have joined the study, routinely reporting on the ECMO support they provide to COVID-19 patients. The mean annual number of cases treated with ECMO in the participating centres before the pandemic (2019) was 55. The number of COVID-19 patients has increased rapidly each week reaching 1531 treated patients as of September 14th. The greatest number of cases has been reported from France (n = 385), UK (n = 193), Germany (n = 176), Spain (n = 166), and Italy (n = 136) .The mean age of treated patients was 52.6 years (range 16–80), 79% were male. The ECMO configuration used was VV in 91% of cases, VA in 5% and other in 4%. The mean PaO2 before ECMO implantation was 65 mmHg. The mean duration of ECMO support thus far has been 18 days and the mean ICU length of stay of these patients was 33 days. As of the 14th September, overall 841 patients have been weaned from ECMO support, 601 died during ECMO support, 71 died after withdrawal of ECMO, 79 are still receiving ECMO support and for 10 patients status n.a. . Our preliminary data suggest that patients placed on ECMO with severe refractory respiratory or cardiac failure secondary to COVID-19 have a reasonable (55%) chance of survival. Further extensive data analysis is expected to provide invaluable information on the demographics, severity of illness, indications and different ECMO management strategies in these patients