Produção de rainhas em espécies de abelhas sem ferrão com células de cria dispostas em cacho (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini)

• Ano de defesa: 2012
• Autor(a) principal: Teixeira, Lila Vianna
• Orientador(a): Campos, Lúcio Antonio de Oliveira
• Banca de defesa: Mucci, Georgina Maria de Faria , Serrão, José Eduardo , Siqueira, Maria Augusta Lima , Lopes, Denilce Meneses
• 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: Abelhas sem ferrão; Produção de rainha; Castas
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Stingless bees; Production queen; Varieties
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::CIENCIAS AGRARIAS::AGRONOMIA::FITOSSANIDADE::ENTOMOLOGIA AGRICOLA
• Link de acesso: http://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/911

Among Meliponini with exclusively trophic caste determination there are two processes of royal cells formation. In the first of them royal cells are constructed bigger than regular brood cells and containing all the food larvae will consume during development. In the second one, royal cells are formed from an inicial cell with the same size as a worker cell whose larva consumes its own and a neighboring cell food supply. This last process was found in species with clustered brood cells and through this same process gyne production in queenless colonies is possible. The aim of this work was to study the gyne production processes in Frieseomelitta silvestrii, Leurotrigona muelleri e Austroplebeia australis. Royal cells formation was accompanied in all experimental colonies, queenright and queenless. In all three species there was royal cells formation in queenright and queenless colonies from inicial cells with the same size as worker cells and gynes developed from larvae that had consumed food from two cells. In F. silvestrii the second cell involved in a royal cell formation process is an auxiliary cell. In L. muelleri both cells involved are apparently equal brood cells. In A. australis second cell involved in royal cell formation can be a brood cell similar to the initial one or a cell bigger than those that originate workers. In all species with clustered brood cells studied by now, and only on these species, royal cell formation occurs from two other cells. This process is somehow associated to this brood cell arrangement. In conclusion, queen production in Meliponini with clustered brood cells occurs by a different process than that presented by species with brood cells in combs.