Search

The physicochemical characteristics of honey vary according to bee species, climate, region, period of collection, processing and storage. In this context, this work aimed to perform a comparative study of the physicochemical characteristics of Melipona subnitida and M. fasciculata honey collected at different periods and regions of the State of Piauí, Brazil. Twenty-nine honey samples were collected and evaluated by principal component analysis from physicochemical analysis data. Twenty-two percent of the parameters analyzed differed between species. Evaluating the collection period, the honey of M. subnitida and M. fasciculata presented differences among themselves. The study revealed a similarity between the physicochemical parameters of the honey of the two species of bees, in addition, the time was one of the determining factors in the formation of clusters. Made available in DSpace on 2020-10-21T09:13:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CharacterizationHoneyStinglessBeesFoodChemistry327.2020.pdf: 266107 bytes, checksum: 81756a9df4d1b66a427e3d89160cb901 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2020

Melipona subnitida (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is a stingless bee native to Caatinga biome in Brazil, well adapted to hot and dry climate of that region and has been traditionally explored for honey production. Here, we evaluate the genetic structure of 173 colonies of M. subnitida in northeast Brazil by partially sequenced mitochondrial genes cytochrome oxidase I (COI) to compare an introduced population isolated for 30 yr into the Island of Fernando de Noronha (IFN) with the continental populations. We identified high haplotype diversity (0.8220) with 14 haplotypes on the continental populations, being three new ones, compared with the database GenBank. The haplotype H4 was present at the center of network, occurring in four localities on mainland and fixed as a single haplotype on IFN. We propose that the island populations originally introduced carried one haplotype (H4), even though IFN population is suffering pressure by island effect through changes on morphology. Studies on island populations could be a model to understand the dynamics of isolated populations and sustainable management of this biome to preserve M. subnitida. Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-21T00:45:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcia2018.pdf: 451546 bytes, checksum: 1a68fbcd5c566c0028d2a63d2c531fea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-09-20

Brazilian native meliponines are currently threatened by increased human impacts. The assessment of their genetic variation by microsatellite DNA markers can assist in the conservation of populations and help in the planning and establishment of effi cient management strategies. The purpose of this study was to develop the fi rst set of microsatellite markers for Melipona fasciculata, selected from partial genome assembly of Illumina paired-end reads. Primer pairs were designed for each detected locus at their fl anking regions. Bee samples were genotyped from two different populations of Northeastern Brazil for marker characterization and validation... Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-05T00:00:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Genomewidediscoveryandcharacterizationofmicrosatellitemarkers.pdf: 513373 bytes, checksum: 6e2d1114610343a6b47e57202508b2e4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-12-04

We located ten nests of Geotrigona subterranea in the transition area between Cerrado and Caatinga within the municipalities of Lontra and Januária, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. We collected the nests to study their architecture in detail. In the present paper, we describe the general nest structure of this bee species in terms of: number, shape and area of the combs; size of the brood cells; size of honey and pollen pots; volume of honey and mass of pollen stored in closed pots; presence of inquiline species; and defensive characteristics. All nests were found in subterranean cavities. The nest structure of G. subterranea is similar to that of other congeneric species.