A hipersensibilidade a veneno de Hymenoptera representa importante problema do ponto de vista de saúde da população, uma vez que pacientes alérgicos aos componentes do veneno podem desenvolver reações graves, às vezes fatais. A única profilaxia efetiva em pacientes sensibilizados é a imunoterapia veneno específica. Objetivos: avaliar as evidências científicas a respeito dos efeitos da imunoterapia específica utilizada na profilaxia secundária das reações graves em pacientes sensibilizados a veneno de Hymenoptera, por meio da realização de uma revisão sistemática. Métodos: a estratégia de busca seguiu as recomendações do Grupo de Pele da Colaboração Cochrane. A pesquisa foi realizada nas seguintes bases de dados: MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library), EMBASE, LILACS, SciSEARCH e nas referências de artigos mais relevantes. Todos os ensaios clínicos controlados e randomizados envolvendo imunoterapia com veneno de Hymenoptera versus imunoterapia com placebo ou apenas seguimento dos pacientes foram avaliados. Dois revisores de forma independente (ASW e LAMF) avaliaram a elegibilidade e a qualidade metodológica de cada ensaio clínico e extraíram os dados. O risco de reações sistêmicas, conseqüentes a ferroada acidental ou a teste de provocação com o inseto responsável, após a imunoterapia específica, foi avaliado por meio do cálculo do odds ratio e do respectivo intervalo de confiança de 95%. Resultados: 2267 resumos foram identificados. A maioria dos artigos foi excluída pelas seguintes razões: os estudos não eram controlados e randomizados ou não satisfaziam alguns critérios de inclusão. Apenas quatro estudos foram analisados. A idade dos pacientes variou entre dois e 65 anos. Apenas um estudo comparou imunoterapia com veneno de formiga contra placebo (Brown et al.) e três estudos (Hunt et al., Schubert et al. e Valentine et al.) comparam imunoterapia com venenos de abelha e vespa contra placebo ou seguimento de pacientes. Em cada estudo, o odds ratio para reações sistêmicas foi: Hunt et al.- Grupo I (veneno) x III (placebo): 0,10 (0,01 <OR < 0,68) Schubert et al.: 0,35 (0,05<OR<2,56); Valentine et al.: 0,16 (0,02 < OR < 1,21) e Brown et al.: 0,04 (0,01<OR<0,28). Após o teste de heterogeneidade, apenas dois estudos (Schuberth 1983 e Valentine 1990) se mostraram homogêneos o suficiente e assim puderam ser incluídos na meta-análise (p = 0,623). Ao combinar os dois estudos, o odds ratio passou a ser significativo: 0.29 (0.10 a 0.87). Entretanto, ao analisar a gravidade das reações ocorridas após a imunoterapia, observou-se que os benefícios podem não ser tão relevantes, pois as reações foram, na grande maioria, ou mais leves ou semelhantes à reação original. Conclusões: A imunoterapia específica deve ser recomendada para adultos que apresentaram reações sistêmicas e para crianças com reações moderadas a graves, porém não é necessária em crianças que apresentaram apenas reações cutâneas após ferroada de abelha ou vespa, principalmente se a exposição for esporádica. / Background: Hymenoptera venom hypersensitivity is a significant public health problem. For patients who are allergic to components of the venom, reactions can be severe and sometimes fatal. The only effective treatment in the management of those patients is the specific venom immunotherapy. Objective: to assess the effects of the specific venom immunotherapy for Hymenoptera venom hypersensitivity through a systematic review. Methods: the standard search strategy of the Cochrane Skin Group was used for searches of electronic and other databases. These included MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library), EMBASE, LILACS, SciSEARCH and the references of relevant articles. All randomized controlled trials involving Hymenoptera venom immunotherapy versus immunotherapy with placebo or only follow-up of the patients were included. Two independent reviewers (ASW and LAMF) assessed the eligibility, and the methodological quality of each trial, and extracted the data. Post immunotherapy risk of systemic reactions after either challenge or accidental stings was calculated through the odds ratio and respective 95 percent confidence interval. Main results: 2,267 abstracts, identified through electronic sources, were assessed. Most articles were excluded for the following reasons: the studies did not satisfy all the inclusion criteria or they were not randomized controlled trials. Four studies were included on this review. The age of the participants varied between two and 65 years. Only one study compared ant venom immunotherapy with placebo (Brown et al.) and three studies (Hunt et al., Schubert et al. and Valentine et al.) compared bees and wasps immunotherapy with placebo or simply patient follow-up. In each study, the odds ratio to a systemic reaction was: Hunt et al.- Group I (venom) x III(placebo): 0,10 (0,01 < OR < 0,68) Schubert et al.: 0,35 (0,05 < OR < 2,56); Valentine et al.: 0,16 (0,02 < OR < 1,21) and Brown et al.: 0,04 (0,01 < OR < 0,28). After the heterogeneity test (p = 0,623), only two studies (Schuberth 1983 and Valentine 1990) were homogeneous enough as to be included in a meta-analysis. The summary odds ratio was 0.29 (IC 95%: 0.10 - 0.87). However, when the severity of the reaction occurring after the sting challenge or accidental sting was taken into account, the benefits were not so relevant because the reactions were, for the most, milder than the original one. Conclusions: The specific-venom immunotherapy must be recommended for adults with systemic reactions and for children with moderate to severe reactions, but there is no need to prescribe it for children who present only skin reactions after insects sting, particularly if the exposure is sporadic.

As hipersensibilidades do tipo I são caracterizadas por um grupo heterogêneo de manifestações clínicas que atingem mais de 30% da população mundial. Novas reatividades a alérgenos regionais brasileiros têm sido descritas e muitas fontes ainda não são totalmente conhecidas. Dentre os alérgenos mais prevalentes estão os venenos de insetos. A vespa regional Polybia paulista (Hymenoptera vespidae) é endêmica no sudeste do Brasil e é responsável por acidentes graves, causando reações alérgicas que podem levar ao choque anafilático. Alguns componentes dos venenos de vespas de diferentes espécies apresentam mimetismo molecular ou biológico, podendo gerar reação imunológica cruzada, mas muitas vezes não são os responsáveis pelo desencadeamento da resposta alérgica. Isto ocasiona falha no diagnóstico e consequentemente no tratamento indicado, a imunoterapia alérgeno-específica. Diante desses fatos e do grande número de pacientes que procuram o Serviço de Imunologia Clínica e Alergia do Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo (HCFMUSP) com manifestações clínicas de alergias a ferroadas de insetos, foi desenvolvida uma sistemática de investigação clínica e laboratorial, com ênfase na abordagem proteômica, para identificar e caracterizar físico-química e imunologicamente novos alérgenos do veneno da vespa Polybia paulista e estudar potenciais reatividades cruzadas com alérgenos já conhecidos. Vinte e um pacientes com história de anafilaxia a venenos de vespa foram selecionados para participar do estudo. Foram realizados testes cutâneos e in vitro com veneno de Polistes spp. disponível comercialmente e com o veneno da Polybia paulista, produzido seguindo o protocolo padronizado anteriormente. Os resultados mostraram que a maioria dos pacientes apresentam IgE específica para os dois venenos com maior reatividade ao veneno de Polybia e que o padrão de proteínas reconhecidas entre os dois venenos é diferente, evidenciando a necessidade de veneno de Polybia paulista na prática clínica nas regiões cuja vespa está presente. Foram identificadas mais de 2000 proteínas no extrato total do veneno de Polybia paulista e algumas proteínas alergênicas ainda não descritas. Dentre elas foi identificada uma nova isoforma ao antígeno 5 da vespa Polybia scutellaris relatada como hipoalergênica. A molécula foi produzida na forma recombinante com conformação adequada, pela primeira vez em E. coli. O alérgeno, registrado na IUIS como Poly p 5, foi reconhecido por IgEs no soro dos pacientes testados e apresenta reatividade cruzada com outros antígenos 5 homólogos. Testes de desgranulação de basófilos em linhagem celular de ratos mostraram que o Poly p 5 induziu pouca desgranulação, indicando seu potencial hipoalergênico / Type I hypersensitivity is characterized by heterogeneous clinical manifestations and specialists estimate that today around 30% of the general population suffers from an allergic disease. New allergens are being reported and some sources are not yet identified. Insect venoms are amongst the most prevalent allergen sources. The social wasp Polybia paulista (Hymenoptera vespidae) is endemic in the southeastern of Brazil and is responsible for serious accidents due to their venomous stings, causing allergic reactions that can lead to anaphylactic shock. Several components presenting molecular or biological mimicry can be found in different species of wasps and lead to a cross-immunological reaction but they are not always responsible for the allergic manifestations. Therefore, diagnostic and consequently immunotherapy is unsuccessful, since specific allergen identification is crucial. Considering the high number of patients attended at the \"Serviço de Imunologia Clínica e Alergia do Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo\" with clinical manifestations of allergies not yet determined or barely studied, an approach involving a systematic clinical, laboratorial and investigative practice through a proteomic analysis was created to identify and characterize new allergens of Polybia paulista venom. Twenty-one patients with clinical history of anaphylaxis to Hymenoptera venoms were selected for this work. Cutaneous and in vitro tests were performed using Polistes venom commercially available as well as Polybia paulista venom, produced following a published protocol. The results shows that the majority of the patients has specific IgE for both venoms with biggest reactivity to Polybia paulista venom and the protein profile recognized in these venoms is different. More than 2000 proteins were identified in the whole venom extract of Polybia paulista and some of the allergenic proteins are not yet described in this venom. Among them, a new isoform that is similar to antigen 5 from Polybia scutellaris, already known as hypoallergenic. The molecule was produced as a recombinant properly folded for the first time in E. coli. The allergen, registered at IUIS as Poly p 5, was recognized by IgEs in the sera of 50% of the patients tested and has cross-reactivity with other homologs of antigen 5. Basophil degranulation tests in rat lineage cells showed that Poly p 5 induced little degranulation, indicating the hypoallergenic potential of this molecule

Sex allocation and sexual selection have been heavily studied, but rarely linked. In this thesis I investigated the interface between them in the gregarious parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis, both directly and through their interactions with the mating system and sexual conflict. Chapter 2 investigated sexual selection and mating at the natal site: earlier eclosing males mated more females independently of body size. Nasonia follows Local Mate Competition, which describes how a female laying eggs alone on a patch of resources (a so-called single-foundress) should lay an extremely female-biased brood to minimise competition between her sons, yet ensure all her daughters are fertilised. Based on this I predicted that males with with fewer brothers would be better inseminators. Despite finding significant among-strain variation in (1) single-foundress sex ratio, (2) mate competitiveness when alone and (3) when in competition, (4) sperm resources, but not (5) sperm-depletion (Chapters 3 &amp; 4), I did not find the predicted relationship. Conversely males from strains with more brothers had a higher mating success under competition (Chapter 3) leading to the question: does mating success select on sex ratio or vice versa? Either way it is a result of an interaction between sexual selection and sex allocation. Chapter 5 investigated the role of male post-copulatory courtship on female re-mating, and found that among- strain variation in female re-mating was not associated with variation in the duration of the post-copulatory courtship. Chapter 6 reviewed sexual conflict in the Hymenoptera: their haplodiploid genetics, newly sequenced genomes and varied life- histories provides a base for future research to build on. Finally I highlight the novel links between sexual selection, sex allocation, sexual conflict and the mating system found during my studies that will hopefully prompt future research on this topic.

Cette thèse CIFRE porte sur la biologie, le comportement et le biocontrôle du frelonasiatique Vespa velutina, un prédateur invasif d’abeilles. Depuis son introduction en France, ce frelonétend maintenant son aire de répartition en Europe, impactant à la fois l’environnement etl’apiculture. L’objectif de ces travaux sera d’enrichir le savoir sur cette espèce pour perturber ledéveloppement des colonies de V. velutina à différents niveaux afin d’en limiter la prolifération. Lepremier axe porte sur la biologie des reproducteurs de V. velutina, afin d’empêcher la fondation decolonies en amont. Ce travail précise les données concernant la maturation sexuelle des mâles de V.velutina, compare certains traits liés à la fertilité des fondatrices avec celles du frelon européen, etmet en évidence une plus grande précocité et fertilité de V. velutina. Le deuxième axe porte sur labiologie des colonies, de la collecte à la distribution des ressources dans le nid. A l’aide de pucesélectroniques marquant des ouvrières (technique RFID), nous avons mesuré le rayon d’action et seslimites chez les ouvrières V. velutina. En marquant de la nourriture avec des métaux lourds, nousavons pu suivre l’évolution de sa distribution dans les colonies suivant leur structure. Le troisièmeaxe porte sur le biocontrôle de V. velutina avec des champignons entomopathogènes. Nous avonsévalué l’efficacité de différents isolats et de leur mode d’application contre V. velutina, puis décrit unchampignon naturellement parasitant V. velutina. Ces travaux ont permis de faire avancer lesconnaissances sur la biologie et la physiologie des frelons, mais également de proposer des pistes decontrôle durable de l’invasion européenne de V. velutina. / This CIFRE thesis deals with the biology, the behavior and the biological control of aninvasive predator of bees, the hornet Vespa velutina. Since its introduction in France, this hornet isnow invading most countries in occidental Europe, dealing damages both to the environment and thebeekeeping activity. In order to limit its proliferation, a good strategy could consist in disrupting itscolony development at different levels, explored in this work. The first axis deals with V. velutinareproductive biology, exploring the different paths to prevent colonies creation. First we describedthe sexual maturation of males in V. velutina, and second we compared different traits linked tofertility between foundresses of V. velutina and the European hornet, thus highlighting V. velutinahigher precocity and fertility potential. The second axis explored the biology of colonies, fromresource collection to resource distribution in the nest. Using RFID technic, we assessed the actionrange and its boundaries in V. velutina workers. We also labelled food and observed its distribution inV. velutina colonies in function of the colony size and structure. The third axis deals with V. velutinabiocontrol, using entomopathogenic fungi. We evaluated the efficiency of different isolates anddifferent application methods on V. velutina, and described a wild fungus found naturally parasitizingV. velutina. This work brought knowledge on biology behavior and physiology of this invasive hornet,and also proposed options that could be assayed for a durable control of V. velutina.

Pollination-dependent fruit trees grown in home gardens play an important role in the agricultural based economy of Central Asian countries, yet little is known about the status of pollinator communities, the cultivated plant composition or the factors that influence management practices in Kyrgyz home garden agroecosystems. As agricultural systems are human created and managed, a logical approach to their study blends anthropological and ecological methods, an ethnoecological approach. Over three years, I investigated how species richness and abundance of Hymenoptera, cultivated plants, and home garden management were related using quantitative and qualitative methods in the Issyk-kul Man and Biosphere reserve. Structured surveys were undertaken with heads of households using a random sample stratified by village. Gardens were then mapped with participation of household members to inventory edible species in gardens, most of which are pollinator-dependent, and to compare home garden diversity as reported by respondents during interviews. Apple diversity was studied to the variety level to understand respondents’ classification system in the context of in situ agrobiodiversity conservation. Household members identified 52 edible plant species when mapping the garden, compared with 32 reported when interviewed. The proportion of plant species received from others through exchange and the number of plots cultivated significantly explained the variation in edible plant diversity among gardens. Insects were sampled in gardens and orchards to determine potential pollinator community composition and the effect of different management practices on Hymenoptera richness and abundance. I collected 756 Hymenoptera individuals (56 bee; 12 wasp species); 12 species were new records for Kyrgyzstan or within Kyrgyzstan. Economic pressures to intensify cultivation could impact management practices that currently promote diversity. A home garden development initiative was undertaken to study management practice improvement. Participants in the initiative had higher adoption rates than controls of management practices that improve long-term yield, ecological sustainability and stability of home gardens. Home gardens, as currently managed, support abundant and diverse pollinator communities and have high cultivated plant diversity with few differences in community composition between garden management types.

A visao sobre o dogma central da biologia molecular passou por aperfeicoamentos na virada deste seculo. Muito se deve ao interesse por pesquisas feitas para compreensao do que ate entao eram regioes do genoma conhecidas como DNA Lixo. Neste contexto, projetos de transcriptoma, avancos em tecnologias de sequenciamento, bem como analises em bioinformatica, contribuiram para elucidar o que estava sendo transcrito. Tais regioes foram denominadas como RNAs nao-codificadores ou non-coding RNA (ncRNA) que eram transcritas, mas nao traduzidas em proteinas. Apesar da quantidade de metodos para o estudo in silico dos ncRNAs, existem lacunas a serem preenchidas nas pesquisas desta molecula, tais como: metodos de anotacao em geral, caracterizacao de novas classes e mecanismos alternativos de busca por similaridade de sequencia primaria. Alem disso, nao se havia uma ferramenta que reunisse num unico local as informacoes dos bancos de dados publicos de ncRNA disponiveis. Neste trabalho, buscou-se preencher tais lacunas, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento de metodos computacionais nas pesquisas em ncRNAs. Foram utilizados os genomas de Hymenoptera e Diptera como sistema biologico para aplicar e testar os metodos desenvolvidos. / The classical vision of the central dogma of molecular biology was not changes dramatic until the end of the 20th century. At this time the scientific communities were interesting to understand what have in the regions of the genome known as \"Junk DNA\". Transcriptome projects together with sequencing Technologies anda bioinformatics analysis help to elucidate that this transcripts were regions that do not coding proteins and maybe has function. These transcripts are called non-coding RNA (ncRNA). Although there are a lot of computational approaches to the in silico research of ncRNA, there is a gap of research about this molecule such: approaches to the general annotation of ncRNA; identification of new classes of ncRNA; and alternatives search mechanisms of ncRNA. Besides that, there are not any central repository of public non-coding RNA databases that could help search for the information about it. In this report, we fill this gap. We tried to contributing to the development of computational methods in research on ncRNAs. We also used the Hymenoptera and Diptera genomes as a biological system to apply and test our developed approaches.

abstract: Social animals benefit from the aggregation of knowledge and cognitive processing power. Part of this benefit comes from individual heterogeneity, which provides the basis to group-level strategies, such as division of labor and collective intelligence. In turn, the outcomes of collective choices, as well as the needs of the society at large, influence the behavior of individuals within it. My dissertation research addresses how the feedback between individual and group-level behavior affects individuals and promotes collective change. I study this question in the context of seed selection in the seed harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus. I use both field and laboratory studies to explore questions relating to individual behavior: how forager decision-making is affected through information available in the nest and at the seed pile; how workers interact with seeds in the nest; and how forager preferences diverge from each other’s and the colony’s preference. I also explore the integration between individual and colony behavior, specifically: how interactions between the foraging and processing tasks affect colony collection behavior; how individual behavior changes affect colony preference changes and whether colony preference changes can be considered learning behavior. To answer these questions, I provided colonies with binary choices between seeds of unequal or similar quality, and measured individual, task group, and colony-level behavior. I found that colonies are capable of learning to discriminate between seeds, and learned information lasts at least one month without seed interaction outside of the nest. I also found that colony learning was coordinated by foragers receiving updated information from seeds in the nest to better discriminate and make choices between seed quality during searches for seeds outside of the nest. My results show that seed processing is essential for stimulating collection of novel seeds, and that foraging and processing are conducted by behaviorally and spatially overlapping but distinct groups of workers. Finally, I found that foragers’ preferences are diverse yet flexible, even when colonies are consistent in their preference at the population level. These combined experiments generate a more detailed and complete understanding of the mechanisms behind the flexibility of collective colony choices, how colonies incorporate new information, and how workers individually and collectively make foraging decisions for the colony in a decentralized manner. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2020

Biparental care in Hymenoptera is a little studied behaviour. This kind of parental care was discovered and the ethological aspect described in the bee Ceratina nigrolabiata from the Czech Republic and is well understood on the ethological level. However, biparental care is not a common behaviour and the lack of genomic studies of this behaviour complicates the understanding of the origin of the biparental care and its underlying pathways on the genomic and physiological level. This master's thesis presents the genome analyses of a biparental bee Ceratina nigrolabiata. It consists of a brief summary of the known parental behaviour across insects, characteristics of the genus Ceratina, summary of the used genomic methods and presents a candidate genes for the transcriptomic study of the biparental behaviour of Ceratina nigrolabiata. Key words: biparental care, genomics, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Ceratina, small carpenter bees

Habitat loss and fragmentation due to agricultural practices are causing worrying declines in insect diversity and biomass. Agricultural intensification, among other things, have led to a decline in semi-natural grasslands. Forest in the surrounding landscape can have a positive effect on species abundance in grasslands. Clear-cut forest have been identified as a supporting habitat for grassland species as they contain important resources. Clear-cuts can also support a wide variety of insects, both grassland species and forest species. In this study, I examined how different land covers in the surrounding landscape affected species abundance on clear-cuts in southeastern Sweden. Using data of insects collected in three previous studies, I tested the hypothesis that insects on clear-cuts benefit from other clear-cuts in the surrounding landscape. I also tested at which spatial scales the surrounding landscape mainly exerted its influence. The results were not in line with the hypothesis and showed that forest in the surrounding landscape had a positive effect on species abundance on clear-cuts, whereas clear-cuts had a negative effect. There were no clear patterns over different scales, although the smallest scale of a 250 m radius produced the highest number of significant results. A lot of insects recorded on the clear-cuts were generalists associated with both forest and agricultural landscape. The reason for the negative effect of clear-cuts needs further investigation.

Denna studie utfördes för att identifiera en hittills okänd art för Sverige inom minerarflugsteklarna med hjälp av en genomgående artbeskrivning och gensekvensering av det svenska materialet som samlats in via Station Linnés malaisefälleprojekt.  Studien utfördes på 3 individer som hittats i två malaisefällor, i Pajala respektive Övertorneå, och bestod av två honor och en hane. Resultatet visade att studiens individer var den synonymiserade arten Opius saevus/Apodesmia saeva, som tidigare hittats i Iran, Skottland, Nederländerna, Sydkorea, Österrike och Finland. Att den är synonymiserad betyder, i detta fall, att det finns två namn för arten, då forskare inte riktigt håller med om vilket släkte den tillhör. De svenska individerna är svarta med gula ben, har en occipital carina som möter och går ihop i den hypoclypeal carinan samt obefintlig notauli. Andra karaktärer innefattar en elliptisk eller kilformad pterostigma, ett tydligt äggläggningsrör och 30 antennsegment.  Fortsatt forskning krävs för att med säkerhet kunna placera arten inom Apodesmia eller Opius, men genom att utföra studier som denna utökas kunskapen om den svenska insektsfaunan hos både forskare och allmänheten. En fullständig revidering är nödvändig inom minerarflugsteklarna för att förenkla framtida forskning och artbestämning, samt minska antalet synonymiseringar. / This study was carried out to identify a hitherto unknown species for Sweden within the Opiinae with the help of a thorough species description and gene sequencing of the Swedish material gathered in Station Linnés’ malaise trap project.  The study was carried out on 3 individuals, which were found in two malaise traps in Pajala and Övertorneå respectively and consisted of two females and one male. The results showed that the individuals of the study were the synonymized species Opius saevus/Apodesmia saeva, previously found in Iran, Scotland, South Korea, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland. That it is synonymized means, in this case, that there are two names for the species, as scientists do not quite agree on which genus it belongs to. The Swedish individuals are black with yellow legs, have an occipital carina that meets and merges into the hypoclypeal carina and a non-existent notauli. Other characters include an elliptical or wedge-shaped pterostigma, a distinct ovipositor tube, and 30 antennal segments.  Placing the species within Apodesmia or Opius cannot be done without further research. But by carrying out studies like this, the knowledge of the Swedish insect fauna is expanded among both researchers and the public. A complete revision is necessary within the Opiinae taxa to simplify future research and species determination, and thereafter reduce the number of synonymizations.