Seven new species of the segmented spider genus Liphistius (Mesothelae, Liphistiidae) in Thailand and Myanmar

Seven new species of the primitive segmented spider genus Liphistius are described and assigned to species groups based on characters of the male palp and vulva plate. The bristowei group includes L. dawei Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀) from southeastern Myanmar, L. choosaki Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♀) from northwestern Thailand, and L. lansak Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♀) from western Thailand; the trang group (Complex A) contains L. kaengkhoi Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀), L. hintung Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀), L. buyphradi Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀), and L. champakpheaw Sivayyapram & Warrit, sp. nov. (♂♀) from central Thailand

Matrilineal origins of Apis mellifera in Thailand

Apis mellifera was imported to Thailand approximately 60 years ago, but the subspecies that contributed to honey bee populations in this country are unknown. We collected 476 colonies from North, Central, Northeast and South Thailand and used PCR-RFLP and direct DNA sequencing to identify mitochondrial lineages and subspecies present. Three common and five rare composite haplotypes were found. Haplotype group ThaiA1 (22% of colonies) and group ThaiA2 (60%) match C or east European lineage A. m. ligustica and A. m. carnica. Haplotype group ThaiB (18%) belongs to the O or Middle Eastern lineage. Non-coding mitochondrial sequences of ThaiB are similar to those of A. m. syriaca and A. m. lamarckii, although no published sequence is an exact match. Analysis of Molecular Variation (AMOVA) showed most of the observed genetic variation occurred within individual apiaries, but significant differentiation between North + Central and Northeast + South regions was observed

Reinforcing a barrier – a specific social defense of the dwarf honeybee (Apis florea) released by the weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina)

In the arboreal habitat of Apis florea one of the dominant insectivorous predators is the weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina. The main mechanism of A. florea to protect its nest against ants and other crawling arthropods are “barriers” of sticky material (sticky bands) which the bees build around the branches and all structures which connect the comb to the outside. We studied whether the presentation of an O. smaragdina ant on the comb releases a specific behavioral response of the bees. After the exposure of a living O. smaragdina worker, held by a forceps on the top of the A. florea comb, the number of bees at the sticky band zone increased and remained on higher level for 2 hours compared to control experiments (presentation of an empty forceps, Tenebrio molitor larva or another arboreal ant species, Crematogaster rogenhoferi). Further, more sticky material was deposited by the bees after exposure of a weaver ant. This behavior seems to be a specific reaction of A. florea to its most important predator O. smaragdina

Actual reproductive conflict during emergency queen rearing in

Unequal relatedness among workers in polyandrous honey bee colonies provides the potential for reproductive conflict during emergency queen rearing. Adult workers can increase their inclusive fitness by selectively rearing their full-sisters as queens. We investigated the paternity of emergency queens in two colonies of Apis florea using five microsatellite loci. In colony 1 there was no significant difference between the proportions of queens and workers in each patriline (P = 0.48). In contrast, the relative frequency of patrilines in colony 2 differed significantly between queens and workers (P = 0.03). More than a quarter of the queens reared in this colony were of a single patriline, suggesting that larvae were selected for rearing as queens non-randomly

Geographic variation in the Japanese islands of Apis cerana japonica and in A. cerana populations bordering its geographic range

Genetic variation among Apis cerana japonica isolates from Japan and Apis cerana isolates from the neighboring areas of Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan was determined from DNA sequences of the mitochondrial DNA non-coding region (between tRNA leu and COII). Three haplotypes were identified among 470 colonies samples at 47 Japanese sites. All isolates from the main Japanese Islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu belonged to a single haplotype, a previously reported Japan 1 haplotype. Two new haplotypes were found on the far southern Japanese islands of Amami-Oshima and Tsushima (the Japan 3 and Japan 4 haplotypes, respectively). The A. cerana from Russia and South Korea were the Japan 1 isolate, the A. cerana from Taiwan was the previously known Taiwan haplotype. Our studies showed little genetic variation in the mtDNA of A. cerana japonica, indicating that this genomic region is of limited use for detecting genetic variation among closely related populations of A. cerana