Orientador: Sulene Noriko Shima / Banca: Edilberto Giannotti / Banca: Fabio Prezoto / Resumo: As vespas, devido à característica difilética do grupo, são um excelente modelo para se tentar compreender a evolução do comportamento social nos Hymenoptera. A biologia e a organização social das vespas eussociais primitivas, em especial o gênero Mischocyttarus, são pouco conhecidas, apesar da grande diversidade de espécies desse gênero nos trópicos. Com o objetivo de identificar os mecanismos envolvidos na regulação social de Mischocyttarus (M.) montei, foram coletadas 9 colônias para a análise da morfofisiologia dos indivíduos, sendo que destas, 6 foram previamente observadas em condições naturais no Campus da Unesp de Rio Claro, SP. Foi verificado que a dinâmica hierárquica desta espécie é regulada através de três estratégias principais: a) interações agonísticas moderadas entre os indivíduos de maneira a permitir que fundadoras se associem, estabelecendo uma hierarquia de dominância mas ao mesmo tempo garantindo a viabilidade da colônia no início do ciclo; b) alimentação e gasto energético diferencial dos adultos, onde os mais dominantes ingerem maiores quantidades de alimento, em especial fontes de proteína, ao mesmo tempo em que realizam tarefas de baixo custo energético e comportamentos relacionados à dominância; e c) utilização da oofagia diferencial como forma indireta de competição e monopolização da postura de ovos. Através desses mecanismos, a hierarquia é regulada de forma dinâmica, de maneira a permitir que 2 qualquer indivíduo possa ocupar diferentes papéis dentro da colônia, uma vez que, como verificado, os adultos emergem com capacidades reprodutivas similares e não apresentam diferenças morfológicas significativas entre as castas. A determinação de suas funções na colônia dependerá, portanto, das estratégias acima descritas. / Abstract: The wasps, due to their monophyletic characteristics, are an excellent model to explain the evolutionary scenario of the social behavior in the Hymenoptera. The biology and social organization of primitively eusocial wasps, especially of Mischocyttarus genera, are relatively poor studied, despite of its marked diversity in Neotropical regions. With the aim of identify the traits involved in social regulation of M. (Monogynoecus) montei nine colonies were collected and used in morphological and physiological analysis, from these six were monitored in natural conditions at UNESP, in Rio Claro, SP. The results showed that the hierarchical dynamics of this specie is regulated based on three main strategies: a) moderated agonistics interactions among nestmates, which leads to foundress associations’ foundations and assure the establishment of a dominance hierarchy and the success of the colony in initial phases of development; b) different feeding and energetic cost tasking of adults, whereas the dominant females feed on higher quantities of food, especially protein, and perform tasks with low energetic cost, mainly those related to dominance; and c) differential oophagy as an indirect strategy of competition, avoiding the subordinate oviposition. Through these mechanisms the hierarchy is regulated in a dynamical way, in which any female can assume different tasks in the colony, once the adults emerge with similar reproductive potential and a marked morphological caste differentiation is absent. The role of each nestmate, therefore, will depend on the strategies previously described. / Mestre

A fundação por enxameamento e poliginia (múltiplas rainhas funcionais) são características marcantes nas vespas da tribo Epiponini, dominantes na região Neotropical. A diversidade na diferenciação entre castas no grupo é interessante. É evidente a distinção entre rainhas e operárias nos gêneros basais, contrastando com a presença de intermediárias (fêmeas não inseminadas com ovários desenvolvidos) nos gêneros mais derivados. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram conhecer aspectos relacionados ao processo de migração forçada, à organização social inter e intra-castas em Parachartegus fraternus. Certificar-se dos aspectos referentes ao fenômeno da oligoginia cíclica. Os principais resultados foram: O processo de reprodução colonial é um evento de difícil observação. Desse modo, para estudá-lo em detalhes este estudo se valeu da análise de enxameagens provocadas pela remoção das estruturas do ninho de seis colônias naturais de Parachartegus fraternus \"absconding swarms\" (Richards & Richards, 1951). Após essa intervenção observaram-se os seguintes eventos: dispersão majoritária dos adultos, retorno gradativo dos indivíduos aos remanescentes do ninho (área do substrato revestida com material vegetal) e sua permanência no local até o início da migração. Esse evento teve início com muitas vespas deixando o local de agregação anteriormente mencionado, voando ao redor de árvores e arbustos próximos, freqüentemente pousando nas folhas e retornando ao local do ninho original. O comportamento de arrastar o abdômen no substrato \"dragging behavior\" (Naumann, 1975) observado desde a remoção do invólucro e dos favos intensificou-se com o aumento dos referidos vôos. Como esse ato envolve a deposição de substâncias atrativas (Jeanne 1975,1981) sobre vários pontos (principalmente folhas) estabelece-se uma trilha \"trail making\" (Naumann, 1975; Jeanne, 1975, 1981) que atrai outras vespas e, inclusive, novas escoteiras. Essas novas escoteiras, reforçando as marcas anteriores, aumentam a eficiência da trilha que, posteriormente, sendo percorrida pela principal onda migratória guia o enxame propriamente dito até o novo local de nidificação. No caso de P. fraternus, escoteiras foram encontradas em diferentes locais (pré-seleção do local do novo ninho). Entretanto, no local definitivamente selecionado, as escoteiras, repetidamente, além de arrastar o abdômen, depositavam veneno no substrato diferenciando o local de estabelecimento das marcas deixadas no curso da trilha (finalização do caminho químico). Estabelecida a trilha, a migração difusa e massal definitiva ocorre rapidamente. A eficiência do método migratório é notável. Terminada essa fase, no local do ninho antigo restam poucos indivíduos e, principalmente, os machos. Finda a fase migratória operárias retornam várias vezes ao local em que esteve estabelecida a antiga colônia. Essas visitas servem para coletar materiais que serão reutilizados na construção do novo ninho. As rainhas tiveram uma existência pacífica entre elas, no entanto, ficou evidente a competição ligada a postura. A detecção de oofagia diferencial entre as rainhas é importante por ser ela altamente competitiva. A principal função das rainhas é a postura, em colônias estáveis, supostamente, elas inibem a postura de intermediárias. As operárias estão envolvidas no processo de eliminação de rainhas que ocorre de forma gradual ou abrupta. As rainhas supostamente perdem a dominância feromonal ao longo do ciclo colonial e são agredidas por operárias e eliminadas gradualmente da colônia. A eliminação de forma abrupta ocorreu durante o pré¬enxameio e estabelecimento, provavelmente algumas rainhas são feromonalmente reconhecidas como mais fértil e dominante e não são eliminadas. A oligoginia cíclica foi confirmada, restando apenas uma rainha em uma das colônias, e somente depois do desaparecimento de todas rainhas identificadas novas rainhas iniciaram posturas. Em colônia onde foram retiradas rainhas e intermediárias em postura não foi observado novas rainhas em um período de 30 dias, a orfandade refletiu na arquitetura do ninho. As intermediárias foram flexíveis na realização de tarefas ligadas ao forrageio, construção do ninho e enxameio. Porém, a postura de ovos pelas intermediárias pareceu ser facultativa e oportunista dependente da fase e do número de rainhas na colônia, possivelmente, a postura das intermediárias tenha sido suprimida por feromônios de rainhas. As intermediárias foram ativas durante o estabelecimento de algumas colônias, competiram com as rainhas por células para realizar posturas e fizeram oofagia diferencial em ovos de rainhas. No entanto não foi observada nenhuma agressão em intermediárias. Foi observado um caso de substituição da rainha por operária. A fêmea que se tornou rainha foi observada anteriormente em diversas tarefas na colônia ligadas a construção e manutenção. Durante o estabelecimento e a monoginia da colônia, a operária se manifestou como intermediária. No total foi observada por 192 dias desde que foi marcada com código de cores. Assim, em espécies com baixa diferenciação entre as castas, com determinação pós-imaginal, todas as operárias tem possibilidade de se tornar rainha dentro de uma determinada faixa etária. / New nests foundation through swarming and polygyny (multiple functional queens) stand among the most remarkable characteristics of the Epiponini wasps that dominantly thrive in the Neotropics. On morphological grounds inter caste differences range from virtually absent to fair distinctness. Moreover, curious presence of intermediate (uninseminated, ovary-developed females, cf. Richards & Richards, 1951) in most genera add complex characteristics to the Epiponini social organization. For obvious reasons natural swarming in these wasps has been seldom recorded. On this account to gain new insights on the swarming process it was provoked and studied in six colonies of Parachartergus fraternus by removing nests principal structures. On the other hand, need of observing the experimental colonies carefully lead us to approach the wasps social organization through intensive direct observations. In this case, especial attention was paid to the mechanisms leading to cyclical oligogyny, as the mechanisms underlying queen\'s selection, queen\'s competition over egg laying, role of the intermediates, etc., can be adequately approached through direct observations, only. After nest structures removal, majority of the wasps dispersed widely. Their return to the nests remains was invariably gradual, and not organized. So, after using the nest remains as the main aggregation area for a period, migration procedures to o new site started with many wasps departing from the aggregation spot and flying around. Most of these flying wasps used to land on the neighboring vegetation and to return thereafter to the aggregation spot. Abdomen dragging behavior (Naumann, 1975), as observed to occur right after nest\'s structures removal is intensified. Through such peculiar behavior the wasps (scout wasps) add special scents to the dragged spot (Jeanne, 1971, 1975) of which sequential combination (trail making, cf. Naumann, 1975) guides the wasps to the previously chosen new nest site. Efficiency of the scented spots is certainly increased as newcomers scout wasps often perform additional dragging behavior on them. In the course of the observations it could be ascertained that the scout wasps often gather over several spots (nest site pre-selection). Even though abdominal dragging on such spots is intense, it\'s important to stress that only of them received venom deposition through frequent sting acts on the substratum. This may indicate venom deposition signals towards migration end, as odors in it should be different than those left by the dragging behavior. As soon as the scent trail is set definite migration occurs of which efficiency is remarkable as suggested by very low number of wasps left behind on the old nest remain. Among these prevalence of males is notorious. Seemingly they are not able to follow the scent trail as the females do so efficiently. In addition, after the bulk of the population arrives to the new nest site, the scout start returning to the old spot to collect materials to be promptly used in the newly started constructions. In general, queens were quite indifferent one another. However, mild and often non explicit competition trends may take place in the events underlying egg laying. Among such, frequent cases of differential oophagy were recorded what probably points out towards competitive mechanisms. More active queens leave more descendants, supposedly. Queen\'s certainly more evident function relates to oviposition. For such, besides likely competition as afore mentioned it seems also probable that queens can pheromonally inhibit intermediates ovipositions. The mechanism leading to cyclical oligogyny is mediated by the workers. Indeed, groups of workers or even isolated workers respond for the majority of the queen direct attacks. Moreover, mentioned attacks may appear gradually or suddenly. Reasons for such attacks remain unknown. Apparently, in the course of aging the queens may loose their distinctive pheromones what may enhance antagonisms and attacks. Obtained results support cyclical oligogyny. Through it a given colony reached monogyny. In general it was only after queenlessness that the newly produced gynes started ovipositing. In a colony of which queens and intermediates were removed, no queens appeared after 30 days. Orphan colonies develop nests structural abnormalities. Concerning foraging, nest construction and swarming, intermediates were socially flexible. However, their oviposition involvement is seemingly opportunistic as it depends on colony development phase, and number of present queens. It seems likely that intermediates ovipositions can be pheromonally regulated by the queens. In some cases they were more active in the course of colony establishment. Despite, no aggressions were recorded against the intermediates; they were seen eating some of the queens laid eggs. In a given instance a worker substituted a queen. Such worker had been previously recorded in tasks related to nest construction and nest keeping. Besides, as her behavior could be albeit intermittently tracked for 192 days, of which period covered from colony establishment until monogyny through polygyny, it could be ascertained that she invariably performed worker-like functions, that is, she was never seen playing even the role of an intermediate female. However, subsequent dissections performed on the nest population proved that she was the only ovary-developed and inseminated female in that particular colony. This is the most extreme case of caste flexibility ever recorded among the Epiponini wasps. Apparently, incipient caste differences allied to likely occurrence of pos-imaginal caste development in P. fraternus triggered hidden survival mechanisms allowing present especial case of worker-queen substitution event.

Fig trees (Ficus spp.) and fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) are partners in an intimate mutualism. The trees provide ovules in which wasp larvae develop while the wasps pollinate the flowers and are therefore indispensible for fig seed production. Agaonid fig wasps oviposit down the styles of fig flowers and it has generally been accepted that they were unable to reach the ovules of "long" styled flowers , which would produce seeds, thus maintaining an evolutionary stable mutualism. African fig species were found to have unimodal style length frequencies, with no separation into long and short styled flowers. In several species the ovipositors of their associated agaonids were long enough to reach the majority of ovules. The number of foundress agaonids entering a fig influenced fig seed set and therefore was an important factor regulating the proportion of flowers producing seeds or pollinators. In the two Ficus species that were studied, entry of more than three agaonid foundresses into one fig resulted in competition for limited oviposition sites and less female - biased offspring sex ratios. It is hypothesised that sequential laying of male eggs followed by female eggs, under variable oviposition site limitation, results in sex ratio adjustment, as predicted by local mate competition theory. Evidence in support of this hypothesis is presented. A number of non - pollinating torymid and pteromalid fig wasps also oviposit into each fig species. The sycophagines and sycoecines oviposit down the styles from inside the fig inflorescences like their agaonid counterparts, while other species insert their ovipositors through the wall of the fig from the outside. Like the agaonids, sycophagines were characterised by being pro - ovigenic, with numerous fully developed eggs at emergence. Sycoecines were able to re - emerge from figs they had oviposited in and lay their eggs in more than one fig. They had short ovipositors, allowing access to a smaller proportion of flowers than agaonids or sycophagines. Externally ovipositing fig wasps were syn-ovigenic, able to develop eggs as adults and invested more energy and time during each oviposition event. Differences in the ovipositor lengths of these species did not segregate their oviposition sites spatially, and therefore does not reduce competition between species. Attack by parasitoids and inquiline fig wasps from the exterior did not constitute a selection pressure against agaonids ovipositing in ovules closer to the periphery of the fig's surface, as predicted by Michaloud's enemy-free-space hypothes is. It cannot therefore explain the preference shown by ovipositing agaonids for shorter styled flowers.

Lucie Grier / Typescript / M.S. Florida State College for Women 1915 / Includes bibliographical references

Little information regarding the flagellar sensilla of the Vespidae, particularly Polistes, exists in the literature. A variety of social behaviors in vespids, such as alarm pheromones and pheromone response, involve intraspecific communication. Therefore, an understanding of sensory receptors in social wasps would benefit further behavioral and neurological studies of wasps. The flagellar sensilla of female paper wasps Polistes dorsalis, Polistes metricus, and the solitary wasp Monobia quadridens were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. A number of olfactory receptors, contact chemoreceptors, and mechanoreceptors were named and described. Possible functions of these receptors were proposed based on morphological and ultrastructural data for each type of sensillum. Counts of several sensilla were made over the whole of five flagellae of each species and results were compared among species, flagellomeres, medial and lateral surfaces.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-12-19Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:41:11Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_gp_dr_rcla.pdf: 1260750 bytes, checksum: f19ff28f2ada22b250d02543a6ad96ca (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Hialuronidases pertencem a um grupo de enzimas hidrolíticas, as quais degradam o ácido hialurônico, um polissacarídeo de alta massa molecular, encontrado em todos os tecidos de mamíferos e fluídos corpóreos. O ácido hialurônico é um componente da matriz extracelular de vertebrados, que preenche os espaços entre células e fibras, e age como lubrificante, bem como uma barreira à penetração de partículas estranhas. Os níveis de ácido hialurônico são marcadamente aumentados durante a embriogênese, inflamação, transformação maligna e em qualquer lugar que seja requerido a rápida substituição de tecido e remodelamento. Os defeitos no metabolismo do ácido hialurônico parecem relacionar-se a várias doenças sugerindo que o seu nível seja altamente controlado. No entanto, surpreendentemente, o estudo de enzimas envolvidas na síntese e degradação do ácido hialurônico tem sido negligenciado. Em venenos de insetos Hymenoptera (abelhas, formigas e vespas), a hialuronidase é uma enzima comum e um dos mais importantes alérgenos, sendo também, o único em potencial, que pode promover reatividade-cruzada entre os venenos de abelhas e vespas, como também entre os de diferentes gêneros e espécies de vespídeos, levando à produção de reações alérgicas mediadas por IgE, umas das maiores causas de anafilaxia em pacientes alérgicos ao veneno. Neste trabalho, através da metodologia de RACE-PCR, foi determinada e caracterizada, a seqüência completa de cDNA do alérgeno - hialuronidase - do veneno da vespa urbana Polybia paulista, a qual, é bastante agressiva e abundante no Estado de São Paulo, sendo responsável por muitos acidentes de importância médica, devido ao seu veneno que, assim como em outros vespídeos, apresenta três conhecidos alérgenos - hialuronidase, fosfolipase e antígeno 5. O cDNA foi obtido a partir do mRNA extraído dos abdomens dos insetos e amplificado por iniciadores gene-específicos.... / Hyaluronidases are a group of hydrolytic enzymes which degrade Hyaluronic acid (HA), the most abundant glycocaminoglycan of vertebrate extracellular space. HA is a high molecular weight polysaccharide found in virtually all mammalian tissues and body fluids, where it fills the space between cells and fibers and acts as a lubrificant as well as a barrier to penetration by foreign particles. Hyaluronic acid levels are markedly increased during the embryogenesis, inflammation, malignant transformation and whenever fast tissue turnover and remodeling is required. Defects in HA metabolism appear to be related to various diseases suggesting that the level of HA must be tightly controlled. Surprisingly, the study of the enzymes involved in HA synthesis and degradation has been greatly neglected. In venoms of Hymenoptera insects (bees, ants and wasps), the hyaluronidase is a common enzyme and one of the most important allergen, being potentially the unique that are able to promote immunological cross-reactivity between venoms from bees and wasps, and also among vespid venoms from different genus and species, producing allergic reactions IgE-mediated, one of the main causes of anaphylaxis in venom-allergic patients. In this work, by the RACE-PCR methodology, the hyaluronidase cDNA complete sequence from the urban wasp Polybia paulista was determined and characterized. This wasp is very aggressive and abundant in the São Paulo state, being responsible for many accidents of medical importance due its venom, which contains, like other vespids, three well known allergens- hyaluronidase, phospholipase and antigen 5. The cDNA was obtained from mRNA extracted from insect abdomens and amplified by gene-specific primers. At first, two consecutive sequences of about 800 and 600 bp were obtained, purified, cloned and sequenced. After, the hyaluronidase cDNA complete sequence of 991pb was obtained, purified and directly sequenced The resulting data were analyzed .

No description available.

No description available.

Thèse - Paris. / Extrait de Bulletin scientifique de la France et de la Belgique, t. XXXIV. Bibliography: p. 107-111.

Orientador: Márcia Regina Brochetto Braga / Banca: José Chaud Netto / Banca: Patricia Pasquali Parise Maltempi / Banca: Lucia Elvira Alvares / Banca: Roberta Cornelio Ferreira Nocelli / Resumo: Hialuronidases pertencem a um grupo de enzimas hidrolíticas, as quais degradam o ácido hialurônico, um polissacarídeo de alta massa molecular, encontrado em todos os tecidos de mamíferos e fluídos corpóreos. O ácido hialurônico é um componente da matriz extracelular de vertebrados, que preenche os espaços entre células e fibras, e age como lubrificante, bem como uma barreira à penetração de partículas estranhas. Os níveis de ácido hialurônico são marcadamente aumentados durante a embriogênese, inflamação, transformação maligna e em qualquer lugar que seja requerido a rápida substituição de tecido e remodelamento. Os defeitos no metabolismo do ácido hialurônico parecem relacionar-se a várias doenças sugerindo que o seu nível seja altamente controlado. No entanto, surpreendentemente, o estudo de enzimas envolvidas na síntese e degradação do ácido hialurônico tem sido negligenciado. Em venenos de insetos Hymenoptera (abelhas, formigas e vespas), a hialuronidase é uma enzima comum e um dos mais importantes alérgenos, sendo também, o único em potencial, que pode promover reatividade-cruzada entre os venenos de abelhas e vespas, como também entre os de diferentes gêneros e espécies de vespídeos, levando à produção de reações alérgicas mediadas por IgE, umas das maiores causas de anafilaxia em pacientes alérgicos ao veneno. Neste trabalho, através da metodologia de RACE-PCR, foi determinada e caracterizada, a seqüência completa de cDNA do alérgeno - hialuronidase - do veneno da vespa urbana Polybia paulista, a qual, é bastante agressiva e abundante no Estado de São Paulo, sendo responsável por muitos acidentes de importância médica, devido ao seu veneno que, assim como em outros vespídeos, apresenta três conhecidos alérgenos - hialuronidase, fosfolipase e antígeno 5. O cDNA foi obtido a partir do mRNA extraído dos abdomens dos insetos e amplificado por iniciadores gene-específicos. ... / Abstract: Hyaluronidases are a group of hydrolytic enzymes which degrade Hyaluronic acid (HA), the most abundant glycocaminoglycan of vertebrate extracellular space. HA is a high molecular weight polysaccharide found in virtually all mammalian tissues and body fluids, where it fills the space between cells and fibers and acts as a lubrificant as well as a barrier to penetration by foreign particles. Hyaluronic acid levels are markedly increased during the embryogenesis, inflammation, malignant transformation and whenever fast tissue turnover and remodeling is required. Defects in HA metabolism appear to be related to various diseases suggesting that the level of HA must be tightly controlled. Surprisingly, the study of the enzymes involved in HA synthesis and degradation has been greatly neglected. In venoms of Hymenoptera insects (bees, ants and wasps), the hyaluronidase is a common enzyme and one of the most important allergen, being potentially the unique that are able to promote immunological cross-reactivity between venoms from bees and wasps, and also among vespid venoms from different genus and species, producing allergic reactions IgE-mediated, one of the main causes of anaphylaxis in venom-allergic patients. In this work, by the RACE-PCR methodology, the hyaluronidase cDNA complete sequence from the urban wasp Polybia paulista was determined and characterized. This wasp is very aggressive and abundant in the São Paulo state, being responsible for many accidents of medical importance due its venom, which contains, like other vespids, three well known allergens- hyaluronidase, phospholipase and antigen 5. The cDNA was obtained from mRNA extracted from insect abdomens and amplified by gene-specific primers. At first, two consecutive sequences of about 800 and 600 bp were obtained, purified, cloned and sequenced. After, the hyaluronidase cDNA complete sequence of 991pb was obtained, purified and directly sequenced The resulting data were analyzed . / Doutor