Estudos genéticos e comportamentais em espécies de Wasmannia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

• Ano de defesa: 2007
• Autor(a) principal: Souza, Ana Lúcia Biggi de
• Orientador(a): Serrão, José Eduardo
• Banca de defesa: Hora, Riviane Rodrigues , Delabie, Jacques Hubert Charles
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Viçosa
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Doutorado em Entomologia
• Departamento: Ciência entomológica; Tecnologia entomológica
• País: BR
• Palavras-chave em Português: Wasmannia; Populações nativas; Variabilidade genética; RAPD; Cariótipo; Heterocromatina; NOR; Agressividade
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Wasmannia; Native populalations; Genetic variability; RAPD; Karyotype; Heterochromatin; NOR; Aggressiveness
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ZOOLOGIA
• Link de acesso: http://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/944

Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger, 1863) (Myrmicinae) is the main problem in cocoa plantations in the Southeast and Southwest regions of Bahia, Brazil, due to its painful stings. Wasmannia sp. aff. rochai may be misidentified as W. auropunctata in the field. This study was performed to characterize the genetic and behavioral patterns of W. auropunctata and W. sp. aff. rochai, in order to distinguish populations of both species. The genetic structure of native W. auropunctata and W. sp. aff. rochai populations, the karyotype and heterochromatic chromosomic staining of W. auropunctata, and the intercolonial and interspecific aggressiveness between workers of W. auropunctata in the its region of origin were analyzed. Random amplified polymorphic DNA markers (RAPD) was a usefull tool for the distinction among the populations of both Wasmannia species, and the analyses of genetic variability of native W. auropunctata and W. sp. aff. rochai populations from Brazil (state of Bahia) and from French Guiana, in the former species. The genetic distances among populations of W. auropunctata and W. sp. aff. rochai (55.8 71.4%) reflect the genetic difference among them. The high genetic distances among the W. auropunctata populations from Ceplac/Ilhéus (26.8 34.6%), as well as among other populations from Ilhéus in comparison to Ceplac/Ilhéus (23.3 40.8%), may be due the existence of aggressive behavior between conspecific non-nestmates of W. auropunctata from Southeast region of Bahia, reflecting that this species has a multicolonial structure in native areas from Ilhéus. The high polymorphism (99.5%) and the values of estimate heterozygosities (Ilhéus: 0.407; Jequié: 0.415; French Guiana: 0.386) suggest that W. auropunctata populations from French Guiana to the Southeast region of Bahia (Ilhéus) may be situated in the geographic center of dispersal area of this species. The cytogenetic study of W. auropunctata showed a karyotype of 2n = 32, with ten pairs of metacentric (M) and six pairs of acrocentric (A) chromosomes. One chromosome arm of sister chromatids of pair ten was positive for CMA3 and acridine orange, suggesting the occurrence of nucleolus organizing regions. The pericentromeric region from many chromosomes and some portions of interfasic nucleus were DAPI positive. This is the first cytogenetic report for a species of Blepharidattini ants. The aggressiveness tests among W. auropunctata workers of distinct colonies and among W. auropunctata workers and Pheidole sp. workers, from Bahia (Ilhéus) and Minas Gerais (Viçosa), showed that W. auropunctata workers were more or equally aggressive in the intercolonial confrontations than in the interspecific ones. The data showed that the more aggressive intercolonial confrontations occurred among W. auropunctata workers distant genetically, as confirmed for molecular study carried out in the same colonies used in the confrontations. Therefore, W. auropunctata has multicolonial structure in its native region and other species of ants may coexist with it in the same area, since territorial limits remain.