Viability of thermal imaging in detecting nests of the invasive hornet Vespa velutina

Vespa velutina is an invasive hornet species that is colonising Europe,generating considerable impacts on honeybees,beekeeping and biodiversity.Control and early warning strategies for this species are mainly based on monitoring plans and procedures of nest detection and destruction.Technological tools(harmonic radar,radio-telemetry)have been developed to increase the probabilities of nest detection in new outbreaks.Since hornets are able to regulate nest temperature,thermography may represent an additional technique that may be used,both alone or in support to other techniques.In this study,the viability of thermal imaging in detecting nests of V.velutina was evaluated in controlled conditions.The influence of different environmental and operative variables(time of the day,presence/absence of leaves covering the nest,distance between the nest and the operator)were tested on three nests detected during August 2018 in Italy.All the nests were detectable by thermal imaging,but environmental and operative variables affect their detectability.The temperature difference between the nests and the surrounding reaches its maximum before sunrise and without a tree canopy covering the nests.Although nests were visible in some cases from 30 m,the detectability was higher at shorter distances,even if this variable may also depend on infrared camera resolution.An increase in the environmental temperature also generates a decrease of nest detectability.Although some limitations could occur,these results show the applicability of thermography in detecting V velutina nests before the beginning of the reproductive phase,and consequently its potentiality in control strategies.     

CLONING AND COMPARISON OF THE GENES ENCODING PREPROAPAMIN FROM THE VENOM OF 2 HONEYBEE AND 4 WASP SPECIES

Abstract Preproapamin genes were amplified by RT-PCR from total RNA from the venom glands of 2 honeybee species, Apis mellifera, A. cerana cerana , and 4 wasp species, Vespa magnifica, V. velutina nigrothorax and Polistes hebraeus , respectively. Their PCR products were ligated into pGEM^® -T easy vector and the nucleotide sequences analyzed. The six fragments were all 141 bp in length and contained an ORF coding the precursor of apamin. The apamin precursors of V. magnifica, V. velutina nigrothorax and P. hebraeus had 95% and 93% similarity with that of A. melliera in nucleotide and amino acid sequences, respectively. That of Vespula maculifrons was identical to that of A. mellifera in nucleotide and amino acid sequences. Apamin precursors of V. magnifica, P. hebraeus and V. velutina nigrothorax also had the same nucleotide sequences. The nucleotide sequences of preproapamin genes from the Chinese honeybee, A. cerana cerana and 4 wasp species are described for the first time. A notable discovery was that the wasps species had exactly same apamins as the honeybees despite the fact they belong to different insect families.     

Antibacterial potential of Nidus vespae built by invasive alien hornet,Vespa velutina nigrithorax,against food‐borne pathogenic bacteria

The yellow‐legged hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax, is an invasive social wasp found in temperate regions and is recognized as a hazardous insect, as it often attacks humans and honeybees. Nidus vespae (nests of social wasps) are traditionally used as a medicinal ingredient; thus, V. v. nigrithorax may be useful as a biological resource. Extracts of Nidus vespae built by V. v. nigrithorax were examined for their antibacterial activity screening against six food‐borne pathogenic bacteria, and the ethyl acetate and butanol layer of the extract exhibited inhibitory activity against the pathogenic bacteria. We determined the antibacterial activity of Nidus vespae built by V. v. nigrithorax for the first time.     

河南绒毛白蜡无性系的数量分类研究

采用系统聚类分析中的最短距离法等５种方法,红绒毛白蜡１５个无性系进行系统聚类。聚类分析结果与其形态分类相吻合,其中５种方法中以离差平方和法和最长距离法为最佳,从而为进行绒毛白绒毛白蜡种下系统分类和无性系研究,提供了新的手段和科学依据。     

Genetic diversity and structure of Populus nigra populations in two highly fragmented river ecosystems from Turkey

Tree Genetics & Genomes - This study aimed to further clarify the mechanisms of salt-alkali tolerance in Fraxinus velutina Torr. Shoots obtained from Fraxinus velutina Torr (also known as...     

盐碱地绒毛白蜡和苦楝种子抗盐萌发机理

将盐碱地和正常地上采集的绒毛白蜡(Fraxinus velutina)和苦楝(Melia azedarach)种子在不同盐浓度下做发芽实验, 测定两类种子的发芽指标和幼苗的生理生化指标, 比较两种种子在不同盐胁迫下的发芽情况、幼苗保护性酶活性、可溶性蛋白和丙二醛含量的差异。结果表明: 绒毛白蜡比苦楝种子抗盐萌发能力强, 比较适合在盐碱地上种植。正常地上采集的两类种子的各项发芽指标高于盐碱地上采集的相应种子, 产自正常地的绒毛白蜡种子活力随盐胁迫的增强而逐渐增大, 苦楝却相反。盐碱地上采集的两类种子形成的幼苗的保护酶活性、可溶性蛋白含量高于正常地上采集的相应种子形成的幼苗, 以绒毛白蜡幼苗为最高; 丙二醛含量则是产自盐碱地的幼苗低于正常地幼苗, 以绒毛白蜡为最低。     

Do introduced honeybees (Apis mellifera,Hymenoptera) provide full pollination service to bird‐adapted Australian plants with small flowers? An experimental study of Brachyloma ericoides (Epacridaceae)

Abstract In many previous studies of the effects of introduced honeybees on Australian ecosystems, it has been assumed that floral morphology is a primary factor determining whether introduced honeybees will be effective in pollinating endemic plants. Although both honeybees and birds contacted stigmas and anthers of the small‐flowered Brachyloma ericoides (Epacridaceae), the exclusion of birds but not honeybees resulted in a significantly lower proportion of flowers producing capsules (12.3 ± 2 vs 21.0 ± 2%). This suggests that native birds contributed significantly to fruit set even though honeybees were much more frequent visitors to flowers (5–6 vs 0.7–2.5 times per day) and moved more frequently between plants (25 vs 12.2% of movements). Fruit set following exposure to birds and honeybees was very low compared with shrub species in general and may have been limited by the pre‐emptive removal of pollen by the 10% of honeybees that actively collected pollen.     

盐碱地绒毛白蜡和苦楝种子抗盐萌发机理

将盐碱地和正常地上采集的绒毛白蜡(Fraxinus velutina)和苦楝(Melia azedarach)种子在不同盐浓度下做发芽实验,测定两类种子的发芽指标和幼苗的生理生化指标,比较两种种子在不同盐胁迫下的发芽情况、幼苗保护性酶活性、可溶性蛋白和丙二醛含量的差异.结果表明:绒毛白蜡比苦楝种子抗盐萌发能力强,比较适合在盐碱地上种植.正常地上采集的两类种子的各项发芽指标高于盐碱地上采集的相应种子,产自正常地的绒毛白蜡种子活力随盐胁迫的增强而逐渐增大,苦楝却相反.盐碱地上采集的两类种子形成的幼苗的保护酶活性、可溶性蛋白含量高于正常地上采集的相应种子形成的幼苗,以绒毛白蜡幼苗为最高;丙二醛含量则是产自盐碱地的幼苗低于正常地幼苗,以绒毛白蜡为最低.     

种子萌发期4种植物对干旱胁迫的响应及其抗旱性评价研究

用不同浓度PEG-6000的1/2Hoagland溶液模拟干旱胁迫条件,对沙枣、柠条、杠柳、白蜡4种植物种子的总萌发率、幼苗鲜重、活力指数进行研究.结果表明:(1)随着干旱胁迫程度的加剧4种植物种子的总萌发率、幼苗鲜重、活力指数呈下降趋势,且白蜡下降幅度最大,但柠条、沙枣、杠柳的抗旱指数显著高于白蜡;(2)4种植物种子的逐日萌发率和胚根日变化表明:低浓度PEG-6000对柠条和杠柳的种子萌发具有较好的诱发作用,白蜡和杠柳种子萌发比较集中,沙枣和柠条相对比较分散;沙枣、柠条和白蜡胚根生长呈线性增长,而杠柳呈指数式增长;(3)采用隶属函数法对干旱胁迫下4种植物的相对萌发率、相对鲜重、抗旱指数、相对活力指数进行综合评价的结果显示,4种植物种子萌发阶段的抗旱性次序为:柠条>沙枣>杠柳>白蜡.     

Encounter with New Resources Causes Polarized Growth of the Cord-Forming Basidiomycete Phanerochaete velutina on Soil

Abstract The development and physiology of cord-forming saprotrophic basidiomycetes, which form extensive and persistent mycelial networks in woodland ecosystems, can be conveniently studied on non-sterile soil in laboratory microcosms mimicking field conditions. Morphological responses of Phanerochaete velutina mycelial systems to resource encounters, and decay partitioning following encounters, varied according to whether simulated woody litter was unsterile or autoclaved and on whether encounter took place at the mycelial foraging front or behind the margin (simulating litter fall onto established systems in the field). Results show that encounter of discrete resources by P. velutina is rapidly communicated to the entire mycelial system; that resource capture takes high priority at the expense of continued system extension and decay-derived carbon reallocation; and that polarized growth toward newly encountered resources, previously considered to occur infrequently with this species, may be readily detected using image analysis techniques. Potential advantages of polarized development of P. velutina are discussed.     

Antibacterial activity of honey from stingless honeybees (Hymenoptera; Apidae; Meliponinae).

The aim of the study was to examine antibacterial activity of the honey of stingless honeybees (Meliponinae). An agar well diffusion assay demonstrated that many honey samples of stingless honeybees inhibited the growth of test strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; moreover, they exhibited non-peroxide antibacterial activity against those strains. This is the first time that non-peroxide antimicrobial activity of honey from a number of species of stingless honeybees has been demonstrated. These antibacterial activities appear to be powerful, even when compared to those of"manuka honey" from Apinae honeybees.     

黄猄蚁对大蜜蜂的捕食行为及其潜在影响

捕食作用会对访花昆虫的种群、行为以及植物适合度产生影响,是植物与传粉者相互关系研究中常被忽视的因素.本文报道了黄猄蚁对大蜜蜂的捕食行为,并模拟捕食的关键环节研究了捕食过程对重要访花昆虫行为的影响.结果表明,黄猄蚁能够利用局部环境主动攻击猎物,利用群体合作捕获采集过程中的体型较大的大蜜蜂,捕食威胁是其影响植物-访花者关系的重要机制.大蜜蜂具有感知花上危险的能力,模拟处理的个体会逃离危险的花或植株并在花上留下标记,将危险信息传递给其它个体.其它拜访者对具有危险信号花的采集频次明显减少,采集时间缩短;模拟处理的影响会随时间推移而较快地消失.此外,该实验没有发现大蜜蜂在花上停留采集过程中具有明显的防御行为.     

Do Honeybees Shape the Bacterial Community Composition in Floral Nectar?

Floral nectar is considered the most important reward animal-pollinated plants offer to attract pollinators. Here we explore whether honeybees, which act as pollinators, affect the composition of bacterial communities in the nectar. Nectar and honeybees were sampled from two plant species: Amygdalus communis and Citrus paradisi. To prevent the contact of nectar with pollinators, C. paradisi flowers were covered with net bags before blooming (covered flowers). Comparative analysis of bacterial communities in the nectar and on the honeybees was performed by the 454-pyrosequencing technique. No significant differences were found among bacterial communities in honeybees captured on the two different plant species. This resemblance may be due to the presence of dominant bacterial OTUs, closely related to the Arsenophonus genus. The bacterial communities of the nectar from the covered and uncovered C. paradisi flowers differed significantly; the bacterial communities on the honeybees differed significantly from those in the covered flowers’ nectar, but not from those in the uncovered flowers’ nectar. We conclude that the honeybees may introduce bacteria into the nectar and/or may be contaminated by bacteria introduced into the nectar by other sources such as other pollinators and nectar thieves.     

Mate number,kin selection and social conflicts in stingless bees and honeybees

Microsatellite genotyping of workers from 13 species (ten genera) of stingless bees shows that genetic relatedness is very high. Workers are usually daughters of a single, singly mated queen. This observation, coupled with the multiple mating of honeybee queens, permits kin selection theory to account for many differences in the social biology of the two taxa. First, in contrast to honeybees, where workers are predicted to and do police each other''s male production, stingless bee workers are predicted to compete directly with the queen for rights to produce males. This leads to behavioural and reproductive conflict during oviposition. Second, the risk that a daughter queen will attack the mother queen is higher in honeybees, as is the cost of such an attack to workers. This explains why stingless bees commonly have virgin queens in the nest, but honeybees do not. It also explains why in honeybees the mother queen leaves to found a new nest, while in stingless bees it is the daughter queen who leaves.     

中国野生蜜蜂形态描述与地理分布概况

对2010年5月-9月采集的蜜蜂属Apis中野生蜜蜂进行鉴定,根据形态特征编制了中国蜜蜂属的分类检索表,并对各个种的主要形态特征进行了描述,同时对野生蜜蜂在我国及世界的分布情况进行了简要介绍。本文期望通过这次采样及基础研究推动对野生蜜蜂研究以及野生蜜蜂的保护工作的重视。     

绒毛白蜡的核型分析

应用根尖压片法对木樨科白蜡属绒毛白蜡(Fraxinus velutina)的染色体数目和核型进行了研究。结果表明:绒毛白蜡体细胞染色体数目为2n=22,核型公式为:K(2n)=22=20m 2 sm,属于"1A"类型。染色体相对长度组成为2n=22=4L 10M2 8M1。     

Statistical modeling of insect behavioral response to changes in weather conditions in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus</Emphasis> L.

Understanding specific meteorological factors that affect the foraging activity of pollinator insects can provide valuable information to ensure appropriate levels of pollination of crops. This research was carried out to verify the spectrum of pollinating insects and their foraging behavior in relation to specific meteorological variables in the Brassica napus (rapeseed) crop. Data collected consisted of the following observations: number of visits by each pollinator, floral resources collected by Africanized honeybee Apis mellifera L., number of flowers visited by Africanized honeybees in 1 min, number of flowers visited by Africanized honeybees in one specific plant during the timed observation of 1 min, and the time taken by the honeybees to visit each flower. In this study the analyses were made through different generalized linear models. The Africanized honeybees were the most abundant pollinating insects (88%) and most visitors were observed collecting nectar (90%). The Africanized honeybees visited a total of 12.9?±?1.40 flowers in 1 min and 2.96?±?1.09 flowers of a single plant in 1 min. The time the honeybees spent on the rapeseed flowers was 4.2?±?1.6 s. The number of floral visitors correlated closely to the variation of abiotic factors, especially temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation. Africanized honeybees were more active at different times of the day as compared to the other floral visitors and they foraged more intensely on the Hyola 433 hybrid than on the Hyola 61 hybrid. The Hyola 61 hybrid was more attractive to Diabrotica speciosa and Lepidoptera.     

Pollination disruption by European honeybees in the Australian bird-pollinated shrubGrevillea barklyana (Proteaceae)

European honeybees (Apis mellifera) were less efficient pollinators ofGrevillea barklyana than nectar-feeding birds. Nectar-collecting honeybees did not contact reproductive parts of flowers. Pollen-collecting honeybees preferentially visited malestage flowers but rarely visited female-stage flowers. Fruit set on caged inflorescences that allowed access to honeybees but excluded birds was reduced by more than 50% compared to inflorescences that were visited by both types of visitors. Further, fruit set on caged inflorescences was less than on bagged inflorescences that excluded both birds and honeybees, indicating that pollen removal by bees decreased opportunities for delayed autonomous selfing in the absence of birds. Although fruit set was not pollen-limited at the study site, pollen removal by honeybees would decrease fruit set in small populations where birds are scarce. In addition, pollen removal by honeybees would reduce opportunities for outcrossing and reproductive success through male function. Although honeybees have been in Australia for insufficient time to have exerted selection on floral traits, evolutionary shifts in response to these animals are likely to occur in the future.