How the stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini) colonize an area? A Case Study - Mitochondrial haplotypes of Partamona cupira (Smith, 1863) in its areas of occurrence in the Cerrado.

• Grant number: 13/21799-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2013
• End date: November 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Marco Antonio Del Lama
• Grantee: Mariana Cristina Dessi
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Alterations of the natural landscape have been produced and this has affected the bee populations, either by habitat fragmentation or by the loss of nesting sites. Otherwise, peculiar biological traits of these insects as haplodiploidy, the complementary sex determination (csd) mechanism, the eusociality, the monandric mating system, and the colony reproduction by swarming influence the genetics of their populations. Some of these factors interfere with the maternal gene flow, and the population becomes viscous. Partamona cupira is a social stingless bee that occurs in areas of the cerrado of the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goias, in Brazil. This species builds its nests inside termite ground nests. Aiming to verify the viscosity level of stingless bee populations, this work is proposed to test the hypothesis that the P. cupira populations are genetically structured when viewed through the mitochondrial genes due to the fact that each colonization event is made by a reduced number of founder colonies or maternal lineages. We will also verify if P. cupira females nest inside active or inactive termite nests and what are the termite species that host the bee colonies. This work will bring some new information about how P. cupira spreads in this severely threatened phytogeographical domain.(AU)