Abdomen flipping of Apis dorsata breviligula worker bees correlated with temperature of nest curtain surface

Apis laboriosa and Apis dorsata worker bees in the curtain covering the nest comb perform dorso-ventral abdomen flipping (AF). Relationship between percentage of bees performing AF and the nest surface temperature (t$_{\rm c}$) or ambient temperature (t$_{\rm a})$ was investigated on A. dorsata breviligula nests in the Philippines. When both temperatures dropped down the %AF increased. Partial correlation showed, that the correlations between %AF and t$_{\rm c}$ were about 4 times higher than between %AF and t$_{\rm a}$. This support the hypothesis that worker bees of the mantle of the curtain, which perform AF, react rather to the temperature around them in the surface of the curtain than to ambient temperature some distance apart

Morphometric diversity of Apis cerana Fabr. within the Philippines

The diversity of Apis cerana Fabr. in the Philippines was studied using morphometric methods. A total of 101 samples of A. cerana from feral and hived colonies, and foragers were collected throughout the Philippine archipelago. The 39 morphometric characters recommended by Ruttner and Ruttner et al. were measured. The data were statistically analyzed by means of factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and cluster analysis. The bees from Palawan were unequivocally distinct and separate from the other Philippine samples. The bees from the other Philippine islands still showed a high degree of variation. The bees of Luzon differed clearly from those of Visayas and Mindanao. Within Luzon, the bees from the highland differed clearly from those in the lowland and were regarded as separate groups. Bees from Visayas and Mindanao were still very variable and showed potential for further sub-structuring. The present analysis could not distinguish whether the difference between Luzon and Visayas-Mindanao was based on a north-south clinal structure, or on distinct groups.Variabilité morphométrique d'Apis cerana Fabr. aux Philippines. La diversité d'Apis cerana Fabr. aux Philippines a été étudiée par les méthodes morphométriques. Au total 101 échantillons d'A. cerana provenant de colonies sauvages et de ruches ont été prélevés dans l'ensemble de l'archipel des Philippines (Fig. 1). Les 39 caractères morphométriques recommandés par Ruttner [CITE] et Ruttner et al. [CITE] ont été mesurés : 18 caractères de taille, 11 angles de la vénation alaire, 7 caractères de pigmentation, longueur des poils, longueur du proboscis et crochets. L'analyse factorielle a montré que les abeilles de Palawan se distinguaient nettement des abeilles des autres îles de l'archipel (Figs. 2a et 2b). Les abeilles du reste de l'archipel présentaitent des différences manifestes entre la région sud (Mindanao et Visayas) et la région nord (Luzon). La régression selon la latitude géographique n'a pas pu trancher définitivement s'il s'agissait là de deux groupes différents ou d'un cline géographique (Fig. 3). Dans Luzon un groupe (massif montagneux de Luzon) se distingue nettement des abeilles environnantes de moindre altitude ; c'est ce qui ressort de façon frappante de l'évolution des caractères selon un cline nord-sud. L'analyse discriminante a séparé clairement les quatre groupes ainsi obtenus. Les abeilles de Palawan se caractérisent par des ailes et des pattes relativement grandes pour une taille corporelle moyenne. Les abeilles des régions basses de Luzon sont nettement les plus petites, celles du massif montagneux de Luzon nettement plus grandes et plus foncées. Les abeilles de Visayas-Mindanao sont les plus grosses et possèdent un indice cubital nettement plus élevé (Tab. II). L'étude de la variabilité entre les lieux de prélèvement au sein de ces groupes principaux a montré que dans trois de ces groupes (régions basses de Luzon, massif montagneux de Luzon et Palawan) seuls des caractères isolés présentaient des différences significatives. Chacun de ces groupes pouvait donc être considéré comme homogène. Le troisième groupe le plus étendu (Visayas et Mindanao) a par contre présenté des différences significatives pour de nombreux caractères. Ce groupe n'est donc pas homogène et peut potentiellement être sous-divisé, mais les données issues de l'échantillonnage ne permettent pas d'aller plus loin. Les résultats de cette étude mettent en évidence de grosses différences morphologiques nettement marquées entre les populations d'A. cerana des différentes contrées des Philippines. Ces différences sont en accord avec l'histoire géologique de l'archipel

Propolins and glyasperin a from stingless bee nests

Chemical investigation of the dichloromethane extracts of the propolis collected from bee (Tetragonulabiroi Friese) hives in San Roque, Sorsogon, Philippines afforded propolin A (1), propolin E (2), propolinH (3), glyasperin A (4), squalene, a mixture of lupeol, α-amyrin and β-amyrin, and another mixtureof urs-12-en-3-one, olean-12-en-3-one and lup-12-en-3-one. The structures of 2–4 were elucidated byextensive 1D and 2D (COSY, HSQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy, while 1 was identified by comparisonof its NMR data with 2. © 2015 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Farmacognosia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved

Principal Component Analysis.

<p>Genetic clustering of the <i>Varroa</i> mites based on their genotype at six microsatellite markers. The <i>Varroa</i> mites were sampled in <i>A</i>. <i>cerana</i> (<b>Vc</b>) and <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> (<b>Vm</b>) colonies in the Philippines and Vietnam. The genotypes of the mites sampled in Los Banos (<b>LB</b>) are shown in green (groups 1 and 2). The mites from Lipa city (<b>LC</b>, group 3) and sampled in <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> from Dien Bien (<b>DB</b>, group 5) and Son La (<b>SL</b>, group 7) are represented in orange. The mites from <i>A</i>. <i>cerana</i> colonies located in Vietnam from Dien Bien (<b>DB</b>, group 4), Son La (<b>SL</b>, group 6) and Cat Ba (<b>CB</b>, group 8) are represented in blue. Each dot represents a distinct individual, and each inertia ellipsoid shows the population’s prediction ellipses for each group.</p

Pairwise F_ST.

<p>Pairwise comparison of the genetic differentiation using the fixation index (F_ST) between the three main genetic clusters found in this study: the mites from the two honeybees species sampled in Los Banos (<b>Philippines</b>), the mites sampled in <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> colonies in Vietnam and Lipa city (<b>Korea</b>) and the mites sampled in <i>A</i>. <i>cerana</i> colonies in Vietnam (<b>Vietnam</b>).</p><p>***: <i>p</i><0.001,</p><p>**: <i>p</i><0.01.</p><p>Pairwise F_ST.</p

Host Specificity in the Honeybee Parasitic Mite, <i>Varroa spp</i>. in <i>Apis mellifera</i> and <i>Apis cerana</i>

<div><p>The ectoparasitic mite <i>Varroa destructor</i> is a major global threat to the Western honeybee <i>Apis mellifera</i>. This mite was originally a parasite of <i>A</i>. <i>cerana</i> in Asia but managed to spill over into colonies of <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> which had been introduced to this continent for honey production. To date, only two almost clonal types of <i>V</i>. <i>destructor</i> from Korea and Japan have been detected in <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> colonies. However, since both <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> and <i>A</i>. <i>cerana</i> colonies are kept in close proximity throughout Asia, not only new spill overs but also spill backs of highly virulent types may be possible, with unpredictable consequences for both honeybee species. We studied the dispersal and hybridisation potential of <i>Varroa</i> from sympatric colonies of the two hosts in Northern Vietnam and the Philippines using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA markers. We found a very distinct mtDNA haplotype equally invading both <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> and <i>A</i>. <i>cerana</i> in the Philippines. In contrast, we observed a complete reproductive isolation of various Vietnamese <i>Varroa</i> populations in <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> and <i>A</i>. <i>cerana</i> colonies even if kept in the same apiaries. In light of this variance in host specificity, the adaptation of the mite to its hosts seems to have generated much more genetic diversity than previously recognised and the <i>Varroa</i> species complex may include substantial cryptic speciation.</p></div

Varroa <i>coxI</i> haplotype divergence in the Philippines and Vietnam.

<p>Network representing the amount of substitutions between the different <i>coxI</i> sequences obtained from different <i>Varroa</i> mites sampled in colonies of <i>A</i>. <i>mellifera</i> (in blue with white text) and <i>A</i>. <i>cerana</i> (in orange with black text). The mites were sampled in Vietnam in the surrounding of Dien Bien (<b>DB</b>), Son La (<b>SL</b>) and Cat Ba (<b>CB</b>) and in the Philippines in the city of Los Banos (<b>LB</b>) and Lipa City (<b>LC</b>). The sample size for each haplotype is written in italic between brackets below the sampling location. The grey components represent additional accessions generated by Navajas <i>et al</i>. (2010): AmK1-1 haplotype (<b>K1</b>, accession GQ379056), AcV1-1 (<b>V1</b>, accession GQ379061), AcC1-1 (<b>C1</b>, accession GQ379065) and AmJ1-6 together with AcJ1-4 (<b>J1</b>, accessions GQ379074.1 and GQ379072.1, respectively). Each diamond represents a substitution. The number indicated close to the dotted line represents the number of substitutions not represented on the figure.</p

Overall information on the microsatellite loci used.

<p>For each of the six microsatellite markers used, the name of the locus (<b>Locus</b>), the overall number of Alleles (<b>N</b>_<b>A</b>) and the overall Allelic Richness (<b>R</b>) are represented.</p><p>Overall information on the microsatellite loci used.</p