aims: venomous snake bites are public health problems in different parts of the world. the most specific mainstay in the treatment of envenomation is anti-venom. to treat the envenomation, it is very important to identify the offending species. this study was designed to determine the penetrating pattern of fangs and teeth of some viper snakes.  materials & methods: this descriptive study was p...

Controversial immunomodulatory properties of bee venom (BV) have provided an appropriate field for more investigation. The aim of present research was to verify the effects of honeybee venom on matrix metalloproteinase activity and interferon production as well as cell proliferation in monocyte and fibroblast cell lines.The monocyte and fibroblast cell lines (K562, HT-1080, WEHI-164) were used ...

The stingless bee Melipona quinquefasciata is not included among the nine bee species of Melipona described in literature of NE Brazil. However, reports of some farmers raised suspicion on the occurrence of M. quinquefasciata in the state of Ceará, in NE Brazil. Investigations were carried out from July 1997 to September 2000, by means of trips to the areas of probable occurrence of this bee sp...

The Mesoamerican bee genus Mexalictus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Halictinae) is a group of rare bees which are found at high elevations from southern Arizona (USA) to Panama. The genus is revised using traditional taxonomic approaches. The following twenty one new species are described: M. albofasciatus Dumesh, n. sp., M. anatolii Dumesh, n. sp., M. astriatus Dumesh, n. sp., M. ayalai Dumesh, n....

Pollinators that collect pollen - and specifically, pollen-specialist bees - are often considered to be the best pollinators of a (host) plant. Although pollen collectors and pollen specialists often benefit host plants, especially in the pollen that they deliver (their pollination "effectiveness"), they can also exact substantial costs because they are motivated to collect as much pollen as po...

Ascosphaera aggregata, the causative agent of chalkbrood in the alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata), is a major mortality factor when this bee is used commercially as a pollinator. The effect of temperature on A. aggregata hyphal growth, spore germination, and disease prevalence was tested. The lowest prevalence of chalkbrood occurred at 35 °C, yet this temperature was the optimum for...

During 1998-2003, we used populations of the solitary bee Osmia lignaria Say to pollinate a commercial sweet cherry orchard in northern Utah. Bee densities released each year ranged from 1290 to 1857 females/ha, with approximately twice as many males. Female progeny produced each year were greater than parental populations released, except in 2003, when nesting was poor due to bird predation. D...

Bee males (drones) of stingless bees tend to congregate near entrances of conspecific nests, where they wait for virgin queens that initiate their nuptial flight. We observed that the Neotropical solitary wasp Trachypus boharti (Hymenoptera, Cabronidae) specifically preys on males of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica (Hymenoptera, Apidae); these wasps captured up to 50 males per day near ...

BACKGROUND Honeybee stings can cause toxic and allergic reactions that may lead to severe symptoms, and sometimes to death. Mexico is the third worldës honey country exporter and sixth producer. Due to the arrival of Africanized bees into Mexico in 1986, the National Program for Control of Africanized Bee (NPCAB) was created, in order to reduce the socioeconomic and sanitary impact from the new...

While honey bee exposure to systemic insecticides has received much attention, impacts on wild pollinators have not been as widely studied. Neonicotinoids have been shown to increase acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in honey bees at sublethal doses. High AChE levels may therefore act as a biomarker of exposure to neonicotinoids. This two-year study focused on establishing whether bumble bee...