The natural behavior and neural systems: the sculpture of evolution on bioecological strategies in insects (Hymenoptera, Meliponini, Augochlorini).

• Grant number: 10/03692-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2010
• End date: August 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Morphology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Carminda da Cruz-Landim
• Grantee: Ana Carolina Roselino
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 12/10630-9 - Neuroanatomical study of olfactory brain circuits as a function of the social organization level of bee species (Hymenoptera, Apidae: Meliponini, Augochlorini, Bombini), BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Environment perception, behavioral responses and neural basis of the sensory systems of the insects tell us how these animals are integrated in nature. Studies on the smell of bees, for example, allow access different levels in these analyses and understand their behavior, ontogeny, and evolutionary history. Considering the neuroanatomy a fundamental tool for understanding the mechanisms of perception of the parameters that define the environment and the possibility of making comparisons between different groups of animals and its bioecological strategies, this project intent to study the neuroanatomical organization of the first olfactory center, the antennal lobes, in two groups of bees in order to answer questions about the differences in the olfactory systems of organisms that forage during the day (Meliponini) and overnight (Augochlorini). The neurohistological analyses allow us to discover possible specializations of the olfactory system of each tribe and infer relationships with the environmental demands on which these animals interact. The results will contribute not only to better understand the olfactory system in insects, but also to clarify the process of detecting odors that lead to behavioral changes relevant and appropriates developed by the bees and the possibility of expanding the taxonomic classification tools and develop new way to look of the researchers about the origin of behavior.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ROSELINO, ANA CAROLINA; HRNCIR, MICHAEL; LANDIM, CARMINDA DA CRUZ; GIURFA, MARTIN; SANDOZ, JEAN-CHRISTOPHE. Sexual dimorphism and phenotypic plasticity in the antennal lobe of a stingless bee, Melipona scutellaris. JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, v. 523, n. 10, p. 1461-1473, JUL 1 2015. (12/10630-9, 10/03692-2)