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Mimicry is one of the most fascinating phenomena in nature1. Mimicry traits often reflect complex, finely tuned, and sometimes extravagant relationships among species and have evolved to deceive predators or prey. Indeed, mimicry has most often evolved to discourage predation: the 'mimic' exhibits phenotypic convergence towards a non-related 'model' organism which is inedible or harmful, so that a given predator, or 'receiver', will refrain from attacking or ingesting the mimic. Traditionally, mimicry is mainly evident and has been mainly studied in the visual domain. Here, we report experiments that document the first case of interspecific acoustic mimicry in a mammal and demonstrate that the distress calls the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) broadcasts when handled imitate sounds of stinging bees or wasps to discourage the bat's avian predators.

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) cover insects’ bodies and play important roles in chemical communication, including nestmate recognition, for social insects. To enter colonies of a social host species, parasites may acquire host-specific CHCs or covertly maintain their own CHC profile by lowering its quantity. However, the chemical profile of small hive beetles (SHBs), Aethina tumida, which are parasites of honey bee, Apis mellifera, colonies, and other bee nests, is currently unknown. Here, adults of SHB and honey bee host workers were collected from the same field colonies and their CHC profiles were analysed using GC-MS. The chemical profiles of field-sampled SHBs were also compared with those of host-naive beetles reared in the laboratory. Laboratory-reared SHBs differed in their CHC profiles from field-sampled ones, which showed a more similar, but ten-fold lower, generic host CHC profile compared to host workers. While the data confirm colony-specific CHCs of honey bee workers, the profile of field-collected SHBs was not colony-specific. Adult SHBs often commute between different host colonies, thereby possibly preventing the acquisition of a colony-specific CHC profiles. An ester was exclusive to both groups of SHBs and might constitute an intraspecific recognition cue. Our data suggest that SHBs do not use any finely tuned chemical strategy to conceal their presence inside host colonies and instead probably rely on their hard exoskeleton and defence behaviours.

Dataset on the occurrence and putative independent origins of inquiline social parasites

Vespa velutina Lepieltier, 1836 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) is an invasive predator of honeybees accidentally introduced into Europe from eastern Asia. It was observed for the first time in southwest France in 2004 and in the following years it rapidly spread almost all over the country. In 2013 it was officially reported in Italy, in the region Liguria, near the border with France. In three years it invaded the whole province of Imperia and it was occasionally reported also in the South Western of Piedmont and in one locality in South Eastern Piedmont. The VELUTINA project was funded in 2014 by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, with the aim of finding effective control methods against the predator. It includes both research and surveillance: adult and nest monitoring; development of methods for nest detection; development of protocols for nest destruction; studies on wasp chemical communication. Adult monitoring was performed in 5 Italian regions – the two where the hornet is already present and the three bordering ones – with the cooperation of Universities, research centres and beekeeping associations. Reports of V. velutina nests were collected from 2014 to 2016 thanks to the activity of the beekeeping association Apiliguria. Between 2014 and 2015 the presence of V. velutina was confirmed in the provinces were it was already present, with a small enlargement of the distribution area, both along the coast and the valleys, with no trespassing to other regions. Only recently, in November 2016, the presence of V. velutina was reported and confirmed by our institution in a locality of Veneto region, very near to the border with Lombardy and Emilia Romagna. At present, nest destruction represents the most effective method to limit the diffusion of the hornet, but it shows limitations and inconveniences. Nests are often difficult to locate and reach, their destruction is costly and risky for the staff and it is not regulated by official approved protocols. Within VELUTINA project some progresses have been made towards the official recognition of the method, thanks to the cooperation with national and regional institutions. After the end of Velutina project, the researchers of the project and the beekeeping associations of the invaded areas joined together in the scientific net Stopvelutina (www.stopvelutina.it), whose aim is to collect information and find new solutions to limit the spread of V. velutina. Beside the continuation of previous researches, a patent pending method was tested in summer 2016 to fight V. velutina adults in front of the apiaries in Liguria. From the first preliminary results the method resulted highly effective and it seems suitable to contrast the predator also in new invaded areas.

In previous researches severe damages induced by Cadmium (an ubiquitary environmental pollutant whose intracellular oxidative effects are increasingly lethal) exposure in human have been demonstrated. Morphologic effects were observed in Central Nervous System, liver, kidney, placenta. Recently, the involvement of immune system in Cadmium intoxication was demonstrated in mammalians; we, therefore, tried to evidence such effect in a simple model as Apis Mellifera. In this animal the immune system is represented by “fat bodies” which produce proteins active in defense against pathogenic agents. It is important to stress out that a dangerous syndrome causing the collapse of Apis mellifera hives has intensified recently, in Europe and North America. Current research in this field is oriented towards identifying a synergy of contributing factors to the weakening of the hive. In this paper, we aim to determine whether contamination by cadmium may have an immunosuppressive effect on the insect. Preliminary results denote that the heavy metal causes a severe damage in fat bodies, leading to substantial immunodeficiency in exposed bees, suggesting that in polluted areas the hives may have difficulty in dealing with pests and pathogens that threaten them., Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, Vol. 120, No. 1 (Supplement) 2015