Submitted by Ricardo Cedraz Duque Moliterno (ricardo.moliterno@uefs.br) on 2016-02-29T22:35:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Disserta?ao Silvia.pdf: 886694 bytes, checksum: 049402a0d6acf81a0e49439f59de35f9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-29T22:35:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Disserta?ao Silvia.pdf: 886694 bytes, checksum: 049402a0d6acf81a0e49439f59de35f9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-18 / Convolvulaceae flowers are characterized mainly by being beautiful and ephemeral, attracting many visitor flowers that belong to different taxonomic groups. They are often found in open environments acting as an important food resource to flower visitors especially bees. This work aimed to investigate the interactions between insects and flowers of Jacquemontia bracteosa Meisn visitors (Convolvulaceae) identifying the pollinator potentials in a semi-arid area in the Northeast. The study was carried out from November 2011 to October 2012, when the morphology and floral biology and reproductive biology of J. bracteosa and floral visitors. The J. bracteosa flowers opened early morning and lasted less than 12 hours, being considered ephemeral. These were self-compatible breeding system, with fruiting by selfing and outcrossing. The flowers were visited mainly by Apidae family bees (females and males of Ancyloscelis apiformis, Ceratina aff maculifrons and Trigona spinipes) and family Halictidae (Augochlora spp). Other visitors were collected from flowers with its frequency below 1%. Among the floral visitors A. apiformis was considered the most efficient pollinator for showing behavior, frequency, and constancy on the flowers. Furthermore, these bees arrived soon when the flowers began to open and presented 90% of efficiency in tests with three visited flowers of J. bracteosa. Other bees as T. spinipes, Ceratina aff maculifrons, Exomalopsis analis, Exomalopsis sp1, and Pseudaugochlora sp1 may be considered potential pollinators because they present behavior and morphology compatible with the flowers. / Flores de Convolvulaceae s?o caracterizadas principalmente por serem ef?meras e vistosas, atraindo muitos visitantes florais pertencentes a grupos taxon?micos diferentes. S?o frequentemente encontradas em ambientes abertos atuando como importante fonte de recursos alimentares aos visitantes florais especialmente abelhas. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as intera??es entre os insetos visitantes e Jacquemontia bracteosa Meisn. (Convolvulaceae), identificando os potenciais polinizadores em uma ?rea no semi-?rido do Nordeste do Brasil. O estudo foi realizado de novembro de 2011 a outubro de 2012, e foram analisados aspectos da morfologia e biologia floral e biologia reprodutiva de J. bracteosa e dos visitantes florais. As flores de J. bracteosa abriam entre 5:10 e 6:20 e duravam menos de 12 horas, sendo consideradas ef?meras. Estas apresentavam sistema reprodutivo autocompat?vel, com frutifica??o por poliniza??o cruzada e autopoliniza??o. As flores foram visitadas principalmente por abelhas das fam?lias Apidae (f?meas e machos de Ancyloscelis apiformis, Ceratina aff maculifrons, Exomalopsis analis, Exomalopsis sp1 e Trigona spinipes) e Halictidae (Augochlora spp). Outros visitantes foram coletados nas flores apresentando frequ?ncia abaixo de 1%. Dentre os visitantes florais A. apiformis foi considerada o polinizador mais eficiente por apresentar comportamento compat?vel com a poliniza??o na esp?cie, frequ?ncia alta de visitas e const?ncia nas flores. Al?m disso, estas abelhas chegavam logo quando a flor come?ava a abrir e apresentaram 90% de efici?ncia nos testes realizados com tr?s visitas nas flores de J. bracteosa. Outras abelhas como T. spinipes, Ceratina aff maculifrons, Exomalopsis analis, Exomalopsis sp1 e Pseudaugochlora sp1 podem ser consideradas polinizadores potenciais, pois apresentam comportamento e morfologia compat?veis com a poliniza??o das flores.

The most important indigenous bee plant in South Africa is the winter flowering Aloe greatheadii var davyana, with a widespread distribution across the summer rainfall region. Beekeepers commonly move their hives to the "aloe fields" during winter, using the strong pollen and nectar flow for colony growth, queen rearing and honey production. In spite of its importance for the bee industry, no complete pollen analysis is available and, except for the popular bee literature, little is known about nectar production or pollinators. The aim of the study was therefore to evaluate the floral rewards of this aloe and to investigate the importance of these resources for honeybees. We analysed fresh, bee-collected and stored aloe pollen for its nutritional content (not previously done for any plant species). Addition of nectar and glandular secretions leads to an increase in water and carbohydrate content and a decrease in protein and lipid content. All the essential amino acids, except tryptophan, met or exceeded the minimum levels for honeybee development. In worker bees in queenright colonies, ovarian development is greater on aloe than on sunflower pollen, which may be explained by the exceptionally high protein content and high extraction efficiency during digestion. In assessing the nectar resource, we investigated the nectary structure and nectar presentation of two species belonging to different sections of the genus Aloe, A. castanea and A. greatheadii var davyana, but anatomical differences were not related to the nectar production. We looked at variation in nectar volume and concentration of A. greatheadii var davyana on various levels, from within the flowers to across the summer rainfall area. Nectar was continuously available and, although dilute (mean concentration 18.6%), the nectar of A. greatheadii var davyana is more concentrated than that of other Aloe species, making it an ideal source of energy and water for honeybees. Utilisation of dilute nectar by bees requires elimination of much excess water. We sampled crop contents of nectar foragers to determine if changes in nectar concentration occurred after collection and before unloading in the hive. Contrary to the common assumption that nectar is either unchanged or slightly diluted during transport, we observed a dramatic increase in concentration and a decrease in volume between the flowers and the hive. Bees may be foraging primarily to get enough water for their physiological needs. Using miniaturised data loggers, we showed that bees are able to adjust nest humidity within sub-optimal limits, in addition to efficient regulation of hive temperature. Humidity levels are influenced by trade-offs with regulation of temperature and respiratory gas exchanges. Although the dilute nectar and pinkish red tubular flowers are characteristic of bird-pollination, exclusion experiments showed that bees are the primary pollinators of A. greatheadii var davyana. This contrasts with other Aloe species which are pollinated by sunbirds and other passerine birds, but highlights the two-way interaction between the bees and the aloes. / Thesis (PhD (Entomology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar, por meio de análise polínica de amostras de mel e cargas de pólen, a fonte dos recursos alimentares utilizados por cinco espécies de meliponíneos, numa área rural do município de Piracicaba, Estado de São Paulo, bem como acompanhar o desenvolvimento anual das colônias, além de determinar as características físico-químicas e microbiológicas de 31 amostras de mel produzido no local. Para tanto foram realizadas as análises de açúcares, umidade, HMF, proteínas, cinzas, pH, acidez, índice de formol, condutividade elétrica, cor, atividade diastásica, atividade de água e pesquisa de coliformes totais, fecais, fungos e leveduras. Os resultados demonstram que as espécies Tetragonisca angustula, Scaptotrigona bipunctata, Nanotrigona testaceicornis, Tetragona clavipes, com exceção de F. varia, são generalistas quanto ao uso dos recursos florais, e que o desenvolvimento de suas colônias é influenciado pelos fatores climáticos, necessitando de alimentação complementar em períodos de queda da temperatura, chuvas ou estigens intensas. Com relação às características físico-químicas do mel, pode-se verificar que a legislação atual, referente ao mel de Apis mellifera não é adequada para todos os caracteres analisados, reforçando a necessidade do desenvolvimento de um padrão próprio para os méis de meliponíneos, incluindo critérios microbiológicos, uma vez que 64,52% do total das amostras de mel analisadas apresentaram contagem superior a 100 UFC.g-1 para fungos e leveduras, além de 2 amostras de T. angustula positivas para coliformes totais. / This research deals with the pollinic analyses of honey samples and pollen loads in order to identify the source of food resources used by five species of meliponine bees, in Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, Brazil. One also evaluated the annual development of the colonies and the determination of the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of 31 honey samples. The following parameters were evaluated: sugars, moisture content, HMF, protein, ashes, pH, acidity, formol index, electrical conductivity, color, diastase activity, water activity and the presence of fecal coliforms, fungi and yeast. The results have indicated that excepting for Friseomelita varia, the species Tetragonisca angustula, Scaptotrigona bipunctata, Nanotrigona testaceicornis and Tetragona clavipes are generalist regarding the use of floral resources. Also the development of their colonies is influenced by climatic factors, once they need complementary food during rainfall, low temperatures and long drought periods. As to the physicochemical characteristics of honey samples, one observes that the Brazilian standard rules for Apis mellifera honey are not suitable for all the analyzed parameters, thus indicating the necessity of a standard rule for the meliponine honeys including microbiological criteria once 64.52% of the analyzed honey samples presented values higher than 100 CFU.g-1 for fungi and yeast and 2 positive samples of T.angustula for total number of coliforms.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar, por meio de análise polínica de amostras de mel e cargas de pólen, a fonte dos recursos alimentares utilizados por cinco espécies de meliponíneos, numa área rural do município de Piracicaba, Estado de São Paulo, bem como acompanhar o desenvolvimento anual das colônias, além de determinar as características físico-químicas e microbiológicas de 31 amostras de mel produzido no local. Para tanto foram realizadas as análises de açúcares, umidade, HMF, proteínas, cinzas, pH, acidez, índice de formol, condutividade elétrica, cor, atividade diastásica, atividade de água e pesquisa de coliformes totais, fecais, fungos e leveduras. Os resultados demonstram que as espécies Tetragonisca angustula, Scaptotrigona bipunctata, Nanotrigona testaceicornis, Tetragona clavipes, com exceção de F. varia, são generalistas quanto ao uso dos recursos florais, e que o desenvolvimento de suas colônias é influenciado pelos fatores climáticos, necessitando de alimentação complementar em períodos de queda da temperatura, chuvas ou estigens intensas. Com relação às características físico-químicas do mel, pode-se verificar que a legislação atual, referente ao mel de Apis mellifera não é adequada para todos os caracteres analisados, reforçando a necessidade do desenvolvimento de um padrão próprio para os méis de meliponíneos, incluindo critérios microbiológicos, uma vez que 64,52% do total das amostras de mel analisadas apresentaram contagem superior a 100 UFC.g-1 para fungos e leveduras, além de 2 amostras de T. angustula positivas para coliformes totais. / This research deals with the pollinic analyses of honey samples and pollen loads in order to identify the source of food resources used by five species of meliponine bees, in Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, Brazil. One also evaluated the annual development of the colonies and the determination of the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of 31 honey samples. The following parameters were evaluated: sugars, moisture content, HMF, protein, ashes, pH, acidity, formol index, electrical conductivity, color, diastase activity, water activity and the presence of fecal coliforms, fungi and yeast. The results have indicated that excepting for Friseomelita varia, the species Tetragonisca angustula, Scaptotrigona bipunctata, Nanotrigona testaceicornis and Tetragona clavipes are generalist regarding the use of floral resources. Also the development of their colonies is influenced by climatic factors, once they need complementary food during rainfall, low temperatures and long drought periods. As to the physicochemical characteristics of honey samples, one observes that the Brazilian standard rules for Apis mellifera honey are not suitable for all the analyzed parameters, thus indicating the necessity of a standard rule for the meliponine honeys including microbiological criteria once 64.52% of the analyzed honey samples presented values higher than 100 CFU.g-1 for fungi and yeast and 2 positive samples of T.angustula for total number of coliforms.