Orientadores: Louis Bernard Klaczko, Ana Maria L. Azeredo-Espin / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T12:39:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Hatadani_LucianeMendes_D.pdf: 5098763 bytes, checksum: ffd29b437b2e422e6d8f1797873032be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: O grupo tripunctata e o segundo maior grupo neotropical de Drosophila em numero de espécies e foi incluído na radiação tripunctata ¿ que inclui outros grupos próximos. O segundo cromossomo de Drosophila medipunctata (espécie que pertence ao grupo tripunctata) e altamente polimorfico para inversões. Trabalhos anteriores sugeriram a presença de interação genotipo-ambiente para tamanho da asa, mas não para forma. Experimentos de laboratório foram realizados para testar os efeitos combinados de temperatura e inversão cromossômica no tamanho e forma da asa de D. mediopuncta. A morfologia da asa foi analisada por métodos de morfometria geométrica. Os resultados mostraram que tamanho e forma da asa são influenciados por temperatura, sexo e cariótipo. Também foram encontradas evidencias que sugeriram a existência entre os efeitos de cariótipo e temperatura para forma da asa, mas nao para tamanho, indicando a presença de interação genotipo-ambiente para forma da asa em D. mediopunctata. Sugerimos que outros fatores ecológicos ¿ tais como densidade de larvas ¿ ou variação sazonal de conteúdo genético das inversões poderia explicar os resultados anteriores. Alem disso, uma nova hipótese filogenética para a radiação tripunctata e sugerida com base em dados de seqüências dos genes mitocôndrias das subunidades I e II da citocromo oxidase, e a variação de tamanho e forma da asa e descrita com bases na nova hipótese filogenética. As arvores filogenéticas foram reconstruídas por métodos de parcimônia, máxima verossimilhança e inferência Bayesiana. Os resultados rejeitaram a hipótese de monofila para o grupo tripunctata, enquanto esta hipótese não foi rejeitada para a radiação tripunctata e outros grupos específicos dentro da radiação. Ambos tamanho e forma da asa apresentaram sinal filogenético e diferentes padrões de tamanho e forma puderam ser identificados para cada um dos agrupamentos mais importantes detectados pela analise filogenética / Abstract: The tripunctata group is the second largest Neotropical group of Drosophila in number of species and was included in the tripunctata radiation ¿ which comprises other closely related groups. The second chromosome of Drosophila mediopunctata (a species that belongs to the tripunctata group) is highly polymorphic for inversions. Previous work suggested the presence of genotype-environment interaction for wing size but not for shape. We performed experiments in the laboratory to test for the joint effects of temperature and chromosome inversions on size and shape of the wing in D. mediopunctata. Wing morphology was analyzed by methods of geometric morphometrics. Our findings show that wing size and shape are influenced by temperature, sex, and karyotype. We also found evidence suggestive of an interaction between the effects of karyotype and temperature on wing shape (but not for size), indicating the existence of genotype-environment interaction for wing shape in D. mediopunctata. We suggest that other ecological factors ¿ such as larval crowding ¿ or seasonal variation of genetic content within inversions may explain the previous results. Moreover, we suggest a new phylogenetic hypothesis for the tripunctata radiation based on sequences of mitochondrial genes of cytochrome oxidase subunits I and II, and describe wing size and shape variation in different species based on this new phylogenetic hypothesis. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed by parsimony, maximum likelihood and bayesian inference. Results reject the monophyly hypothesis for the tripunctata group whereas monophyly is not rejected for the tripunctata radiation and other specific groups within the radiation. Both wing size and shape displayed phylogenetic signal and different patterns of size and shape could be identified for each of the most important clusters detected by phylogenetic analysis / Doutorado / Genetica Animal e Evolução / Doutor em Genetica e Biologia Molecular

Orientador: Louis Bernard Klaczko / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T16:06:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andrade_CarlosAlbertodaConceicao_D.pdf: 4499829 bytes, checksum: d4a5f64a25f8e7494d00d7632c88f113 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: O tamanho e forma do edeago de Drosophila mediopunctata foram estudados a partir de moscas oriundas de duas coletas realizadas numa população natural na Mata Santa enebra, Campinas, SP. A metodologia empregada em todo o trabalho consistiu na elaboração de dois desenhos para o edeago de cada espécime. A seguir, foram estimadas as médias e as configurações consensos para cada par de desenhos, que foram utilizadas, respectivamente, em análises estatísticas univariadas e de morfometria geométrica. Esta metodologia ermitiu obter resultados consistentes e confiáveis para analisar o tamanho e forma do edeago. Em primeiro lugar, investigamos a plasticidade fenotípica do edeago de D. mediopunctata, verificando como ele varia quando as moscas são criadas em duas temperaturas diferentes. O resultado obtido mostrou diferenças de tamanho e forma nestas duas condições experimentais: moscas criadas a 16.5°C tiveram os edeagos maiores do que as criadas a 20°C; uma área no edeago (apical) foi responsável pela maior parte da variação em forma. Em segundo lugar, comparamos a variação fenotípica do edeago com a da asa, estudada simultaneamente nos mesmos animais, os quais vieram diretamente do campo ou foram criados no laboratório; bem como a herdabilidade natural e no laboratório. A asa foi empregada como um sistema de referência para a variação de tamanho e forma do corpo; e, também, analisada com estatísticas univariadas e de morfometria geométrica. Para medidas lineares foram encontrados: coeficientes de variação, em média, maiores no edeago do que na asa entre os animais criados no laboratório; enquanto que nos animais vindos diretamente do campo não houve diferença significativa. Além disto, foram calculadas as correlações fenotípicas entre medidas dos dois órgãos. A partir de moscas oriundas do campo e laboratório detectamos herdabilidades significativas para medidas lineares do edeago. Com relação à asa identificamos apenas um traço com herdabilidade natural significativa, ao passo que no laboratório seis traços mostraram valores significativos. Nossa investigação capturou a herdabilidade ¿natural¿ para a forma da asa e variação para a forma do edeago. Contudo, valores significativos para tamanho do centróide e para o componente uniforme de ambas estruturas só foram encontrados para as estimativas de herdabilidade no laboratório. Outros dados pertinentes foram: primeiro, correlação significativa e positiva entre os tamanhos do centróide do edeago e asa; segundo, o tamanho do centróide do edeago mostrou poucas correlações com a forma da asa; terceiro, muitas correlações fenotípicas foram encontradas entre ambas estruturas, embora não consistentes. Nossos dados foram discutidos com relação a três hipóteses centrais (chave-e-fechadura, pleiotropia e seleção sexual) que tentam explicar a evolução da genitália masculina. Nossos resultados não apóiam a hipótese chave-e-fechadura, mas não nos permitem refutar as hipóteses da pleiotropia e seleção sexual. Embora este estudo tenha se concentrado exclusivamente no órgão intromitente, é recomendável analisar a contrapartida na genitália feminina / Abstract: The size and shape of the aedeagus of Drosophila mediopunctata, obtained from two collections of a natural population in Mata Santa Genebra, were analyzed in this study. The methodology applied in all of the study consisted in making two drawings for each aedeagus of each specimen. Next, the averages or consensus configurations were estimated for each pair of drawings. These figures were used in univariate statistical analysis and in geometric morphometrics. This methodology resulted in consistent and reliable results to analyze the size and shape of the aedeagus. Firstly, we investigated the phenotypic plasticity of the aedeagus of D. mediopunctata, observing how it varies when the flies are reared in two different temperatures. The result obtained showed differences in size and shape in these two experimental conditions: flies reared at 16.5°C had larger aedeagus than those reared at 20°C; one area of the aedeagus (apical) accounted for most of the shape variation. Secondly, we compared the phenotypic variation of the aedeagus with the wing, studied simultaneously in the same flies which came directly from the field or were raised in the laboratory. The natural and laboratory heritability were also compared. For linear measures, the following was found: the coefficients of variation, in average, were higher in the aedeagus than in the wing. Furthermore, the phenotypic correlations between the two organs were calculated. The wing was also analyzed with univariate statistics and geometric morphometrics to provide a reference system for variation of size and shape. From field and laboratory flies, we detected significant heritabilities for linear measures of the aedeagus: five for the first and six for the second. Regarding the wing, we identified only one trait with natural heritability, whereas for the laboratory, six traits were found. Our investigation captured the natural heritability for the shape of the wing and the variation of the shape of the aedeagus. Significant data for centroid size and for the uniform component of both structures were found for the estimates of heritability in the laboratory. Other pertinent data were: first, significant and positive correlation between the centroid sizes of the aedeagus and the wing; second, the size of the centroid of the aedeagus showed few correlations with the shape of the wing; third, many phenotypic correlations were found between both structures, although not consistent. Our data was discussed with relation to three main hypotheses (lock-and-key, pleiotropy, and sexual selection) which attempt to explain the evolution of male genitalia. Our results allow us to refute the lock-and-key hypothesis, but not the hypotheses of pleiotropy and sexual selection. Although this study concentrated exclusively on the intromittent organ, further verification of the counterpart in the female genitalia is necessary / Doutorado / Genetica Animal e Evolução / Doutor em Genetica e Biologia Molecular

Orientador: Eleonore Zulnara Freire Setz / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T15:46:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Baumgarten_JulioErnesto_D.pdf: 1897672 bytes, checksum: 3d8693a668105a0d846b4f1309afcd25 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: As características do habitat são um fator determinante na definição da riqueza e abundância das comunidades. A associação dos organismos com ambientes específicos é determinada pelas demandas e possibilidades de exploração dos recursos de cada espécie. Morcegos da família Phyllostomidae são animais com grande mobilidade que utilizam o vôo através da vegetação para localizar e ter acesso dos seus principais recursos. Os filostomideos formam um grupo de mamíferos fortemente associados às florestas tropicais. A região sul da Bahia representa a maior área contínua com cobertura florestal sob o domínio atlântico que ainda permanece no nordeste brasileiro. Essas florestas remanescentes são, de fato, um mosaico composto por florestas nativas e plantações sombreadas de cacau (Theobroma cacaó), localmente conhecidas como cabrucas. O presente estudo investiga como a fauna de morcegos se distribui neste mosaico complexo em uma paisagem fragmentada da região cacaueira abordando a questão a partir de duas escalas distintas. Em uma paisagem desse mosaico no município de Ilhéus, BA, foi investigado: (1) como a riqueza, abundância, diversidade e composição de espécies de morcegos se comportam na conversão de florestas em cabrucas, (2) como estes parâmetros sofrem influência da distância da cabruca a floresta mais próxima e (3) as alterações destes padrões em cabrucas mais intensamente manejadas, com maior desbaste da cobertura de dossel. Em uma escala menor, foi investigada a importância do arranjo espacial da vegetação do subosque de florestas nativas e cabrucas, em sítios localizados nos municípios de Ilhéus e Una, na estruturação das assembléias de morcegos, considerando-se, principalmente as características morfológicas das espécies presentes. Para tanto foi desenvolvido um método, baseado no uso de fotografias, de onde foram extraídas métricas descritoras da complexidade e grau de obstrução da vegetação presente nos sítios amostrados. As respostas dos morcegos a esses descritores foram comparadas às respostas das assembléias de pequenos mamíferos escansoriais e aves frugívoras de subosque encontradas em estudos anteriores realizados nos mesmos sítios de amostragem. Os resultados corroboram estudos anteriores mostrando que as comunidades de morcegos em cabrucas do sul da Bahia são mais ricas, diversas e abundantes e com composição de espécies diferenciada das florestas, sendo importantes matrizes capazes de manter uma grande quantidade de espécies em uma escala de paisagem. Ao contrário do previsto, o aumento da intensidade de manejo ou da distância da floresta parece não afetar os padrões das variáveis estudadas para a comunidade como um todo ou para as espécies mais abundantes nas florestas. A riqueza de morcegos foi significativa e negativamente correlacionada ao grau de obstrução e à complexidade da vegetação do subosque. Espécies de morcegos com características morfológicas que implicam um vôo energeticamente mais custoso tenderam a não estarem presentes em habitats mais densos e complexos. Morcegos, aves frugívoras e pequenos mamíferos escansoriais respondem de forma diferente aos descritores utilizados, sugerindo formas diferentes de percepção e exploração dos recursos presentes no subosque das florestas da região. / Abstract: Habitat features play a major role influencing species richness and abundance in local communities. The association between a given organism and habitat types is closely determined by the way each species exploits the available resources. Phyllostomide bats comprise a group of species with great mobility, performing highly maneuverable flights trough complex and clutter vegetation in order to detect and access their main food resources. As conspicuous features of the Neotropical forests in general, these bats comprise speciose assemblages along the Atiantic rainforest, a biome drastically reduced, fragmented and disturbed. In the southern region of Bahia state lies the largest areas of the Atlantic forests remaining from the entire northeastern Brazil, although these remnants comprise in fact a mosaic of native forests and shade cacao plantations (Theobroma cacao), locally known as cabrucas. The present study investigates how the Phyllostomidae bats are distributed along this complex forest mosaic, approaching this question in two different spatial scales. At the landscape scale, it was investigated how the richness, abundance, diversity and composition of bat species are influenced by (1) the conversion of native forests into cabrucas; (2) according to the distance of a given cabruca to a native forest remnants and by (3) differences in management intensity among shade plantations, mostly determined by the level of canopy cover left. At a lower spatial scale, the question investigated focused on whether the spatial arrangement of the understory vegetation in a given site could influence the structure of bat assemblages, taking into account morphological features of the species locally present. To accomplish for this goal, a new method was developed to extract a range of metrics needed to describe the complexity and clutter level of the vegetation at each sampling site. The outcomes of the bat assemblages were compared with those achieved for scant small mammals and understory frugivorous bird assemblages sampled along the same sites. Overall, the results corroborate previous studies showing that cabrucas comprise richer, more abundant, more diverse and distinct bat assemblages than those reported for the forest habitats, being important matrix habitats maintaining rich assemblages in a landscape scale. Apparently, neither the distance from a native forest nor the management intensity of a given cabruca seems to influence the bat structure patterns. Nevertheless, at a lower spatial scale, bat species richness was significantly and negatively correlated with the obstruction and complexity level of the understory vegetation. Bat species with morphological features associated with flights that are energetically more costly tended to be absent from more dense and clutter habitats. Bats, birds and small mammals showed different responses relatively to the spatial descriptors applied, probably reflecting differences in the way that each biological group perceive and exploit the understory space and its associated resources. / Doutorado / Doutor em Ecologia

Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) are defined as a class of vehicles with their larger dimension not exceeding 15 cm and weighing 100 gm. The three main approaches for providing lift for such vehicles are through fixed, rotating and flapping wings. The flapping wing MAVs are more efficient in the low Reynolds-number regime than conventional wings and rotors. Natural flapping flyers, such as birds and insects, serve as a natural source of inspiration for the development of MAV. Flapping wing design is one of the major challenges to develop an MAV because it is not only responsible for the lift, but also propulsion and maneuvers. Two important issues are addressed in this thesis: (1) an equivalent beam-type modeling of actual insect wing is proposed based on the experimental data and (2) development of the numerical framework for design and analysis of insect scale smart flapping wing. The experimental data is used for structural modeling of the blowfly Calliphora wing as a stepped cantilever beam with nine spanwise sections of varying mass per unit lengths, flexural rigidity (EI) and torsional rigidity (GJ) values. Natural frequencies, both in bending and torsion, are obtained by solving the homogeneous part of the respective governing differential equations using the finite element method. It is found that natural frequency in bending and torsion are 3.17 and 1.57 times higher than flapping frequency of Calliphora wing, respectively. The results provide guidelines for the biomimetic structural design of insect-scale flapping wings. In addition to the structural modeling of the insect wing, development of the biomimetic mechanisms played a very important role to achieve a deeper insight of the flapping flight. Current biomimetic flapping wing mechanisms are either dynamically scaled or rely on pneumatic and motor-driven flapping actuators. Unfortunately, these mechanisms become bulky and flap at very low frequency. Moreover, mechanisms designed with conventional actuators lead to high weight and system-complexity which makes it difficult to mimic the complex wingbeat kinematics of the natural flyers. The usage of the actuator made of smart materials such as ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs) and piezoceramics to design flapping wings is a potential alternative. IPMCs are a relatively new type of smart material that belongs to the family of Electroactive Polymers (EAP) which is also known as “artificial muscles”. In this work, structural modeling and aerodynamic analysis of a dragonfly inspired IPMC flapping wing are performed using numerical simulations. An optimization study is performed to obtain improved flapping actuation of the IPMC wing. Later, a comparative study of the performances of three IPMC flapping wings having the same size as the actual wings of three different dragonfly species Aeshna Multicolor, Anax Parthenope Julius and Sympetrum Frequens is conducted. It is found that the IPMC wing generates sufficient lift to support its own weight and carry a small payload. In addition to the IPMC, piezoelectric materials are also considered to design a dragonfly inspired flapping wing because they have several attractive features such as high bandwidth, high output force, compact size and high power density. The wings of birds and insects move through a large angle which may be obtained using piezofan through large deflection. Piezofan which is one of the simple motion amplifying mechanisms couples a piezoelectric unimorph to an attached flexible wing and is competent to produce large deflection especially at resonance. Non-linear dynamic model for the piezoelectrically actuated flapping wing is done using energy method. It is shown that flapping angle variations of the smart flapping wing are similar to the actual dragonfly wing for a specific feasible voltage. Subsequently, a comparative study of the performances of three piezoelectrically actuated flapping wings is performed. Numerical results show that the flapping wing based on geometry of dragonfly Sympetrum Frequens wing is suitable for low speed flight and it represents a potential candidate for use in insect scale micro air vehicles. In this study, single crystal piezoceramic is also considered for the flapping wing design because they are the potential new generation materials and have attracted considerable attention due to superior electromechanical properties. It is found that the use of single crystal piezoceramic can lead to considerable amount of wing weight reduction and increase of aerodynamic forces compared to conventional piezoelectric materials such as PZT-5H. It can also be noted that natural fliers flap their wings in a vertical plane with a change in the pitch of the wings during a flapping cycle. In order to capture this particular feature of the wingbeat kinematics, coupled flapping-twisting non-linear dynamic modeling of piezoelectrically actuated flapping wing is done using energy method. Excitation by the piezoelectric harmonic force generates only the flap bending motion, which in turn, induces the elastic twist motion due to interaction between flexural and torsional vibrations modes. It is found that the value of average lift reaches to its maximum when the smart flapping wing is excited at a frequency closer to the natural frequency in torsion. Moreover, consideration of the elastic twisting of flapping wing leads to an increase in the lift force.

A assimetria de cinco estruturas corporais da mosca-das-frutas Ceratitis capitata foi analisada para uma avaliação se poderiam ser utilizadas como bioindicadores. As análises foram feitas em amostras de uma população natural e de uma população de laboratório. Adicionalmente, em amostras obtidas da população de laboratório, os índices de assimetria foram avaliados após a submissão das diferentes amostras à diferentes temperaturas. No estágio de pupa, as amostras foram tratadas nas temperaturas de 17, 20, 25 e 30oC. As estruturas analisadas, em machos e fêmeas foram as cerdas frontais (FO), orbitais (OB), pós-oculares (PO), o comprimento e largura das asas. Nos machos, além dessas estruturas, foi incluída a análise do comprimento de uma das cerdas orbitais, a supra-fronto-orbital (SFO), que apresenta dimorfismo sexual. A variação numérica das cerdas FO e OB foi muito baixa em todas as amostras, não permitindo uma análise da assimetria. A assimetria das demais características, tanto merísticas como métricas, mostrou ser compatível com o modelo da assimetria flutuante (AF). O grau de assimetria de cada estrutura não diferiu entre machos e fêmeas, mas foi significativamente mais alto na amostra da população de laboratório do que na amostra da população natural. No entanto, a assimetria holística (somatória da AF das diferentes estruturas) não mostrou diferenças entre as duas amostras. Nas amostras submetidas a diferentes temperaturas foram observadas alterações significativas no grau de assimetria das estruturas, mas nenhuma alteração no tipo de assimetria que continuou sendo caracterizada como flutuante. Essas análises mostraram não haver diferenças entre os sexos, nem interações entre sexo e temperatura, mas apenas diferenças significativas entre as temperaturas. A assimetria flutuante das cerdas pós-oculares aumenta com o elevação da temperatura, a AF do comprimento das asas e da cerda SFO (nos machos) não mostra correlação com as temperaturas e os resultados indicam que a AF da largura das asas é mais elevada nas temperaturas extremas que nas intermediárias. A comparação da assimetria holística entre as amostras das diferentes temperaturas mostrou que as diferenças não foram significativas. Os resultados indicam que a assimetria das 52 cerdas pós-oculares e das medidas do largura das asas apresentam potencial para evidenciar eventuais estresses durante o desenvolvimento desses insetos. Indicam, também, que a utilização de uma assimetria holísitca pode mascarar possíveis diferenças da assimetria flutuante de estruturas individuais. / Asymmetry of five traits of the fruit fly Ceratitis capitata, an introduced insect pest in Brazil, was analysed in order to evaluate if they present potencial to be used as bioindicators of the \"quality\" of these insects. Samples from a natural population and from a laboratory colony were studied. Moreover, asymmetry was measured in samples from the laboratory colony maintained during the pupal stage, in the temperatures of 17, 20, 25 and 30oC. The analysed traits of males and females, were the frontal, the orbital and the postocular bristles, measurement of the length and cross diameter of the wings and the length of the supra-frontoorbital bristles in the males that show a pronounced sexual dimorphism. Since the numerical variation of the frontal and orbital bristles was very low in all samples it was not possible to analyse the variation in terms of asymmetry. For all other traits, meristic or metric, asymmetry was characterized as following the fluctuating asymmetry (AF) model. AF of the different traits does not differ between sexes, but was significantly higher in the laboratory sample than in the sample from the natural population. No significant differences, however, were found in the holistic asymmetry (sum of AF of different traits) between the two samples. In relation to the experiments conducted in different temperatures, no variations in AF levels were observed between sexes, nor interactions between sex and temperatures. However, significant differences were observed among the samples submitted to different temperatures. AF of the postocular bristles increases proportionaly to the increment of the temperature, while AF of wings and supra-fronto-orbital bristles (in males) lengths showed no correlations with the temperatures, and AF of the cross diameter of wings seems to be higher at the extreme temperatures than at the intermediate ones. When a holistic AF was applied, no significant differences among the temperature samples were observed. The results indicate that asymmetry of the postocular bristles and the length of the wings are parameters showing potencial use as indicators of stresses during development of these insects. They also indicate that a holistic asymmetry may mask variations in the asymmetry of individual traits.

As abelhas da tribo Meliponini apresentam distribuição pantropical. São encontradas mais de 400 espécies pertencentes a 50 gêneros, sendo que mais de 300 estão presentes nas Américas. Os meliponíneos são responsáveis por grande parte da polinização das plantas nativas. A destruição das florestas tem ameaçado seriamente as abelhas sem ferrão, isolando-as em fragmentos e expondo-as ao endocruzamento e aos efeitos de perda de variabilidade genética. No presente estudo, foram empregadas análises moleculares (PCR-RFLP, análise de locos de microssatélites e o sequenciamento de um trecho do gene COI) e morfométrica (Análise da Morfometria Geométrica das asas) no intuito de se verificar a variabilidade em uma pequena população de Frieseomelitta varia residente no campus da USP de Ribeirão Preto (n=33). Para comparação, foram coletados e analisados indivíduos de áreas externas ao campus, ao longo da distribuição natural da espécie (n=36) e também de duas outras espécies F. trichocerata (n=30) e F. doederleini (n=3). Os resultados mostraram maior variabilidade mitocondrial e nuclear para o campus da USP em relação às amostras externas. Pelo menos nove matrilinhagens originaram a população do campus. O grande número de alelos encontrados nas amostras do campus pode ser explicado pela introdução de ninhos, por alta variabilidade já existente nos ninhos fundadores e/ou fluxo gênico via machos. Os resultados moleculares e morfológicos mostram grande similaridade entre F. varia e F. trichocerata, e em contraste, grande distância entre F. varia e F. doederleini, indicando que F. trichocerata deve ser considerada como uma variação geográfica (ecótipo) de F. varia. / The stingless bees present a pantropical distribution. There are more than 400 species belonging to 50 genera. More than 300 are present in the Americas. These bees have a remarkable role in the pollination of native plants. Forest destruction has threatened stingless bees populations by isolating them in forest fragments and exposing them to the effects of inbreeding and loss of genetic variability. In the present study we applied molecular (PCR-RFLP, microsatellite loci analysis and COI sequencing) and morphometric (Geometric Morphometry of Wings) analysis to verify the genetic variability of a small population of Frieseomelitta varia (n=33) resident in the campus of USP - Ribeirão Preto. For comparison, individuals collected across the species natural geographic range and also samples of two other species, F. trichocerata(n=30) and F. doederleini (n=3), were analyzed. The results showed greater mitochondrial and nuclear variability for the samples from the campus in relation to the species overall. Nine matrilines, at least, gave rise to the current campus colonies. The large microsatellite allele number can be explained by recurrent nests introduction, or by high variability already present in the founder nests and/or current gene flow mediated by males. The molecular and morphometric data show high similarity between F. varia and F. trichocerata, and in contrast, high distance between F. varia and F. doederleini, indicating that F. trichocerata should be considered as a geographic variation (ecotype) of F. varia.

<div><div><div><div><p>Insects are the most successful animal on the planet, undergoing evolutionary adaptions in size and the development of flight that have allowed access to vast ecological niches and enabled a means by which to both prey and escape predation. Possessing some of the fastest visual systems on the planet, powerful sets of flight muscles, and mechanosensors tuned to perceive complex environments in high-fidelity, they are capable of performing acrobatic maneuvers at speeds that far exceed that of any engineered system. In turn, stable flight requires the coordinated effort of these highly specialized flight systems while performing activities ranging from evasive flight maneuvers to long-distance seasonal migrations in the presence of adverse flow conditions. As a result, the exceptional flight performance of flying insects has inspired a new class of aerial robots expressly tailored to exploit the unique aerodynamic mechanisms inherent to flapping wings. Over the course of three research studies, I explore new actuation techniques to address limitations in power and scalability of current robot platforms, develop new analytical techniques to aid in the design of insect-inspired robot flapping wings, and investigate attributes of flapping wing aerodynamics that allow insects to overcome the difficulties associated with flight in turbulent flow conditions, in an effort to advance the science of animal locomotion.</p><p>Recent advancements in the study of insect flight have resulted in bio-inspired robots uniquely suited for the confined flight environments of low Reynolds number flow regimes. Whereas insects employ powerful sets of flight muscles working in conjunction with specialized steering muscles to flap their wings at high frequencies, robot platforms rely on limited sets of mechanically amplified piezoelectric actuators and DC motors mated with gear reductions or linkage systems to generate reciprocating wing motion. As a result, these robotic systems are typically underactuated - with wing rotation induced by inertial and aerodynamic loading - and limited in scale by the efficiency of their actuation method and the electronics required for autonomous flight (e.g., boost converters, microcontrollers, batteries, etc.). Thus, the development of novel actuation techniques addressing the need for scalability and use of low-power components would yield significant advancements to the field of bio-inspired robots. As such, a scalable low-power electromagnetic actuator configurable for a range of resonant frequencies was developed. From physics-based models capturing the principles of actuation, improvements to the electromagnetic coil shape and a reconfiguration of components were made to reduce weight and increases overall efficiency. Upon completion of a proof-of-concept prototype, multiple actuators were then integrated into a full-scale robot platform and validated through a series of free flight experiments. Design concepts and modeling techniques established by this study have since been used to develop subsequent platforms utilizing similar forms of actuation, advancing the state-of-art in bio-inspired robotics.</p><p>With the ability to make instantaneous changes in mid-flight orientation through subtle adjustments in angle-of-attack, the maneuverability of flying insects far exceeds that of any man-made aircraft. Yet, studies on insect flight have concluded that the rotation of insect wings is predominately passive. Coincidentally, bio-inspired flapping wing robots almost universally rely on passive rotational mechanisms to achieve desired angles-of-attack - a compromise between actuator mass and the controllable degrees-of-freedom that results in underactuated flight systems. For many platforms, the design of passive mechanisms regulating the rotational response of the wing is determined from either simulations of the wing dynamics or empirically derived data. While these approaches are able to predict the wing kinematics with surprising accuracy, they provide little insight into the effects that wing parameters have on the response or the aerodynamic forces produced. Yet, these models establish a means by which to both study insect flight physiology and explore new design principles for the development of bio-inspired robots. Using a recent model of the passively rotating insect wing aerodynamics, a novel design principle used to tune the compliance of bio-inspired robot wings is developed. Further, through the application of nonlinear analysis methods, parameters optimizing lift production in flapping wings is identified. Results from this analysis are then validated experimentally through tests preformed on miniature flapping wings with passive compliant hinges. This work provides new insight into the role passive rotational dynamics plays in insect flight and aids in the development future flapping wing robots.</p><div>Insect flight is remarkably robust, enabling myriad species to routinely endure adverse flow environments while undergoing common foraging activities and long-distance migratory flights. In contrast to the laminar (or smooth) flow conditions of high-altitude flights by commercial aircraft, insect flight occurs within the lower atmosphere where airflows are unsteady, and often turbulent. Yet despite the substantial challenge these conditions pose to an insect's physiology, flights spanning entire continents are common for numerous migratory species. To investigate how insects sustain stable flight under fluctuating flow conditions, the aerodynamic forces and flows produced by a dynamically scaled robotic insect wing immersed in a specially devised turbulence tank were examined. Despite variation in aerodynamic forces generated between wing strokes, results show that the averaged force from flapping remains remarkably steady under turbulent conditions. Furthermore, measurements of the flows induced by the wing demonstrated that unsteady aerodynamic forces generated by flying insects actively buffer against external flow fluctuations. These results provide mechanistic evidence that insect flight is resilient to turbulent conditions, and establishes principles that aid in the development of insect-inspired robots tailored for flight in adverse flow environments.<br></div></div></div></div></div>

This thesis summarizes investigations performed within design, analysis and experimental evaluation of flexible aircraft structures. Not only the problems, but rather the opportunities related to aeroelasticity are discussed. In the first part of the thesis, different concepts for using active aeroelastic configurations to increase aircraft performance are considered. In particular, one study deals with the minimization of the induced drag of a highly flexible wing by using multiple control surfaces. Another study deals with a possible implementation of a high-bandwidth piezo electric actuator for control applications using aeroelastic amplification. The second part of the thesis deals with the development of an approach for modeling and analysis of flexible structures considering uncertainties in analysis models. Especially in cases of large structural variations, such as fuel level variations, a fixed-base modal formulation in robust flutter analysis may lead to incorrect results. Besides a discussion about this issue, possible means of treating this problem are presented. / QC 20101130

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the power image of Henry James's female protagonists through a Readers Theatre adaptation of his novels, Daisy Miller, The Wings of the Dove, and The Portrait of a Lady. Chapter I includes an introduction and defines the purpose of the thesis. Chapter II briefly examines biographical information on James. Chapter III includes the analysis of the three selected novels in relation to preparation of a performance based script for Readers Theatre. In the Appendix is the Readers Theatre script with the inclusive transition and introductory material. The illustration of a typical Jamesian woman reveals a philosophic view of the human possibilities in freedom, power, and the destructive elements that limit an independent spirit.

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