Orchid bees: a new assessment on the rarity of diploid males in populations of this group of Neotropical pollinators

Abstract

-The incidence of diploid males among 1457 individuals of different populations of six euglossine bee species (Eufriesea violacea , Eulaema cingulata , Euglossa annectans , Euglossa iopoecila , Euglossa pleosticta and Euglossa truncata ) was investigated with microsatellite markers. Bees were surveyed in Atlantic Forest fragments showing different sizes and degrees of human interference. Our analyses revealed that, although the frequencies of diploid males remained below 10 % for five out of six species studied, the frequencies of these males in three populations of Eg. annectans were above 15.0 %. For this species, while the average estimate of diploid males was around 11.0 %, the highest percentage (27 %) of such males was found for the population from an island. Our findings indicate that the frequency of diploid males can vary substantially among species and this fact should be taking into consideration in studies and conservation actions involving different euglossine bees. microsatellites / Euglossini / euglossine bees / Euglossa annectans / forest fragments

Different Physiognomies and the Structure of Euglossini bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Communities

“…Pearson & Dressler, 1985, Sofia et al, 2004Farias et al, 2007;Rocha-Filho & Garófalo, 2014). The distribution patterns of abundance in the sampled areas were similar to those of other studies made in other Atlantic Forest fragments; a few species had many individuals, and many species had few individuals (e.g., Rebêlo & Garófalo, 1997;Sofia & Suzuki, 2004;Sofia et al, 2004;Aguiar & Gaglianone, 2008;Ramalho et al, 2009;Giangarelli et al, 2015;Rocha-Filho & Garófalo, 2013). This tendency can be the result of the weak association of some species with the essences used (Viana et al, 2002) or can be the distribution pattern of these communities (Aguiar & Gaglianone, 2008).…”

“…As part of this rich biodiversity, Euglossine bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini), commonly known as orchid bees, have been widely sampled in different Neotropical ecosystems in recent decades, mostly in fragments or remnants of the Atlantic Forest (e.g. Rebêlo & Garófalo, 1997;Tonhasca et al, 2002;Sofia et al, 2004;Aguiar et al, 2014;Rocha-Filho & Garófalo, 2013Giangarelli et al, 2015;Costa & Francoy, 2017). Some these studies have shown structural differences in euglossine bee communities from distinct biogeographical regions, and differences have usually been attributed mainly to historical factors (Aguiar et al 2014).…”

“…Some these studies have shown structural differences in euglossine bee communities from distinct biogeographical regions, and differences have usually been attributed mainly to historical factors (Aguiar et al 2014). However, comparative studies of orchid bee communities from different vegetation physiognomies have shown that regional differences in community structure are also influenced by climatic, geomorphological, and/or vegetational parameters (Nemésio & Silveira, 2007;Sydney et al, 2010;Mattozo et al, 2011;Aguiar et al, 2014;Nemésio & Vasconcelos, 2013;Giangarelli et al, 2015;Costa & Francoy, 2017;Medeiros et al, 2017;Moreira et al, 2017).…”

Structure and genetic variation among populations of Euschistus heros from different geographic regions in Brazil

“…The amplification reactions were carried out at a final volume of 10 μl, containing 2.3 μl water, 1X GoTaq Colorless Master Mix (Promega, Fitchburg, WI, USA), 10 ng DNA sample, 1% glycerol, 0.125 μM M13 fluorescent labeled primer (FAM, HEX, NED, or PET; Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, CA, USA), 0.125 μM reverse primer, and 0.0125 μM forward primer. Polymerase chain reactions were performed in a thermal cycler ProFlex 3 × 32‐well PCR System (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) programed as follows: initial denaturation at 94 °C for 5 min, followed by 10 cycles at 94 °C for 30 s, 48 °C, 54 °C, 58 °C, or 60 °C for 1 min, 72 °C for 1 min, 25 cycles at 89 °C for 30 s, 48 °C, 54 °C, 58 °C, or 60 °C for 1 min, 72 °C for 1 min, and the final extension at 72 °C for 30 min (Giangarelli et al., ). Electrophoresis of amplification products was performed in ABI PRISM 3500‐XL automated sequencer (Applied Biosystems), using the GeneScan 600 Liz (Applied Biosystems) molecular weight marker.…”

“…The AutoDimer software was used to check for specificity and possible primer dimer or hairpin loop (Vallone & Butler, 2004). The selected loci were tested under different amplification conditions and then underwent individual genotyping in an automatic sequencer, following the protocol described by Schuelke (2000) and Giangarelli et al (2015). To perform the reading in the automatic sequencer, fluorescent-labeling required an additional forward primer with an M13 universal sequence (5 0 -TGTAAAACGACGGCCAGT-3 0 ) added to the 5 0 end of each locus (Schuelke, 2000).…”