We have compared gene expression, using the Differential Display Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (DDRT-PCR) technique, by means of mRNA profile in Melipona scutellaris during ontogenetic postembryonic development, in adult worker, and in both Natural and Juvenile Hormone III-induced adult queen. Six, out of the nine ESTs described here, presented differentially expressed in the ...

Fractionation of geopropolis from Melipona scutellaris, guided by antiproliferative activity against two colon cancer cell lines (COLO205 and KM12), led to the isolation of two new cinnamic acid esters, mammea-type coumarins 5,7-dihydroxy-6-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)-8-(4-cinnamoyl-3-methyl-1-oxobutyl)-4-propyl-coumarin (1) and 5,7-dihydroxy-6-(4-cinnamoyl-3-methyl-1-oxobutyl)-4-phenylcoumarin (2), a...

In stingless bees, recruitment of hive bees to food sources involves thoracic vibrations by foragers during trophallaxis. The temporal pattern of these vibrations correlates with the sugar concentration of the collected food. One possible pathway for transferring such information to nestmates is through airborne sound. In the present study, we investigated the transformation of thoracic vibrati...

This paper provides description of a new species, Cheirochela grossa sp. nov. from Yunnan Province. Cheirochela tonkina Polhemus, Polhemus & Sites, 2008, Heleocoris bengalensis montandoni Lundblad, 1933 and Thurselinus scutellaris (Stål, 1860) are reported from China for the first time. The checklist and a key to the species of Naucoridae of China are given. Dorsal habitus photographs of the sp...

Mosquito species of the Aedes (Stegomyia) scutellaris (Walker) group (Diptera: Culicidae) are distributed across many islands of the South Pacific and include major regional vectors of filariasis, such as Aedes polynesiensis (Marks). Analysis of populations of Ae. polynesiensis at the extremes of its range, from Fiji and from Moorea, French Polynesia, using the rDNA ITS2 (internal transcribed s...

In social species, the interactions that occur between individuals and also between individuals and their environment can lead to various spatial distributions. Our goal was to understand how both factors (social and environmental) can affect such spatial distribution of individuals. Aggregation experiments were conducted on the ant Crematogaster scutellaris: the level of inter-attraction betwe...

Among social insects, the stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini), a mainly tropical group of highly eusocial bees, present an intriguing variety of well-described olfactory-dependent behaviors showing both caste- and sex-specific adaptations. By contrast, little is known about the neural structures underlying such behavioral richness or the olfactory detection and processing abilities of this inse...

New data concerning the occurrence of pleasing fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) in Poland are given, with a focus on rare and difficult to identify Central European taxa. Cryptophilus cf. integer (Heer) (Cryptophilinae) is reported from the Polish territory for the first time based on adult and larval specimens collected in the Wielkopolska-Kujawy Lowland. Identification problems concern...

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a dehumidification process on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of stingless-bee honey. Melipona scutellaris and M. quadrifasciata honey samples were submitted to a dehumidification process and to physicochemical (reducing sugars, apparent sucrose, moisture, diastatic activity, hydroxymethylfurfural, ash, pH, acidity, and electric...