Macias Macias J O; Quezada-Euán J J G (2015) Stingless bees in a temperate climate: oviposition behavior and duration of ontogenic development stages in Melipona colimana (Hymenoptera: Meliponini). J. Apicultural Res. 54: 255-259

Abstract

Melipona colimana is a stingless bee endemic to temperate areas of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt, where intranest behavior during the provisioning and oviposition process, duration of ontogenic development stages and time of emergence of individuals were determined. It was observed that the dynamics of provisioning and oviposition do not differ substantially from tropical species of the same genus, but ontogenic development in a temperate climate was longer than in a tropical climate, possibly due to lower temperatures in the original habitat of the species. Duration of ontogenic

development of M. colimana individuals is the longest recorded so far among the species of Melipona genus. Worker bees took 55.44 ± 1.09 days to emerge from the cells; males, 57.14 ± 0.94 and gynes, 52.62 ± 0.63, with statistical differences between them (F = 367.72, DF = 2, 395, p < .05). The gynes emerged before workers, and workers before the males. The obtained data can be used to promote the sustainable use of this species in mountains in Mexico.

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Gutiérrez E., Ruiz D., Solís T., May-Itzá W. de J., Moo-Valle H., Quezada Euán J.J.G. (2016) Does larval food affect cuticular profiles and recognition in eusocial bees? a test on Scaptotrigona gynes (Hymenoptera: Meliponini). Behav Ecol. Sociobiol. 70: 781-789

Abstract

The relative contributions of heritable and environmentally acquired components of colony odor towards individual recognition are scarcely known in social insects. Larval food may affect cuticular profiles which in turn may serve as cues in the process of elimination of excess gynes characteristic of the eusocial stingless bees. In this study we evaluated the contribution of larval food to cuticular profiles of stingless bee gynes and quantitatively tested if recognition (latency) from workers may be related to gyne chemotype and origin in the species Scaptotrigona pectoralis. Our results showed that the origin of food did not significantly affect the cuticular profiles of gynes, as larvae of the same origin reared on food from different colonies showed similar cuticular profiles at emergence. We suggest that overlapping over floral resources may account for the similarity in cuticular cues derived from food across experimental colonies. Additionally, workers showed similar latency time to first aggression towards gynes irrespectively of their chemotype and origin. Gyne’s mass had no effect on the aggressive response from workers either. We observed that gynes threatened aggressive workers which counteracted further aggression. Our results indicate that in stingless bees cuticular hydrocarbons at emergence seem to have genetic origin and that gyne tolerance seems not related to cuticular chemical profiles. We suggest that cuticular cues may serve as caste labels for the identification of newly emerged gynes after which worker aggression towards them would elicit behavioral indicators of their fitness. 

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Arturo Bustillos Godoy

Tesis de Licenciatura: Diferencias en tamaño y Asimetría Fluctuante en individuos y castas de la abeja sin aguijón Melipona beecheii Benett (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

 

Fecha de examen 17 de Febrero de 2016

 Asesor: Dr J Javier Quezada Euán

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Professor Robert J. Paxton and Alice Segurét estancia del 8 de febrero al 27 de marzo de 2016 para dar inicio al proyecto DFG

Phenotypic plasticity and reproduction-longevity life-history trade-off: investigating the underlying basis in an orchid bee at the cusp of sociality

 

UN Report: Pollinators Vital to Our Food Supply Under Threat

Reporte de las Naciones Unidas: Polinizadores vitales para nuestro suministro alimenticio en riesgo

By the numbers

• 20,000 – Number of species of wild bees. There are also some species of butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, bats and other vertebrates that contribute to pollination.
• 75% – Percentage of the world's food crops that depend at least in part on pollination.
• US$235 billion–US$577 billion – Annual value of global crops directly affected by pollinators.
• 300% -- Increase in volume of agricultural production dependent on animal pollination in the past 50 years.
• Almost 90% -- Percentage of wild flowering plants that depend to some extent on animal pollination.
• 1.6 million tonnes – Annual honey production from the western honeybee.
• 16.5% -- Percentage of vertebrate pollinators threatened with extinction globally.
• +40% – Percentage of invertebrate pollinator species – particularly bees and butterflies – facing extinction

VINCULO LINK A IPBES 

DIPLOMADO EN LINEA EN MELIPONICULTURA

Abril-Septiembre 2016

                     

Domínguez-Ayala R., Moo-Valle H., May-Itzá W. de J., Medina-Peralta S., Quezada-Euán, J. J. G. (2016) Stock composition of northern neotropical honey bees: mitotype and morphotype diversity in México (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Apidologie 47: 642-652

 Abstract – The stock of honey bees in the northern neotropics is likely a composite of European and African lineages, but the genetic makeup of most populations in this region has remained unstudied.We analyzed the genetic composition of honey bees across temperate and tropical regions of Mexico using mitochondrial and morphometric analyses. The results showed that honey bees from Mexico are descendent almost in similar proportion from matrilines of African and European origins. However, morphometrics indicate that most colonies are the result of extensive introgressive hybridization with Africanized bees.While large-scale displacement of European honey bees seems to have occurred in the tropical regions, higher frequencies of colonies with a mixed range of African- European markers were identified in the temperate areas. Our results suggest that the outcome of the hybridization between Africanized and European honey bees in Mexico has been significantly associated with climate.

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