Showing papers on "Apis florea published in 2021"

Temporal and spatial foraging patterns of three Asian honey bee species in Bangalore, India

Abstract: Honey bees (genus Apis) are important pollinators in Asian tropical agricultural and natural ecosystems, yet the Asian species remain vastly understudied compared to the European honey bee, Apis mellifera. We studied the temporal and spatial foraging patterns of three co-occurring Asian honey bee species in Bangalore, India, to gain a better understanding of how they coexist. We found evidence for temporal resource partitioning, with Apis cerana having activity peaks in the early mornings, Apis florea initiating foraging later in the day, and Apis dorsata having the potential to do much of its foraging activity at night, even when the moon is not yet up. Apart from the established species differences in foraging ranges, we found limited evidence of spatial partitioning of the landscape. Although individual colonies foraging in parallel often focused their foraging effort on different patches, all three species preferred foraging in cultivated garden areas to seminatural or urban areas. These observations add to the growing evidence for a key role of gardens as foraging habitat for bees in cities.

The genomic basis of evolutionary differentiation among honey bees.

Abstract: In contrast to the western honey bee, Apis mellifera, other honey bee species have been largely neglected despite their importance and diversity. The genetic basis of the evolutionary diversification of honey bees remains largely unknown. Here, we provide a genome-wide comparison of three honey bee species, each representing one of the three subgenera of honey bees, namely the dwarf (Apis florea), giant (A. dorsata), and cavity-nesting (A. mellifera) honey bees with bumblebees as an outgroup. Our analyses resolve the phylogeny of honey bees with the dwarf honey bees diverging first. We find that evolution of increased eusocial complexity in Apis proceeds via increases in the complexity of gene regulation, which is in agreement with previous studies. However, this process seems to be related to pathways other than transcriptional control. Positive selection patterns across Apis reveal a trade-off between maintaining genome stability and generating genetic diversity, with a rapidly evolving piRNA pathway leading to genomes depleted of transposable elements, and a rapidly evolving DNA repair pathway associated with high recombination rates in all Apis species. Diversification within Apis is accompanied by positive selection in several genes whose putative functions present candidate mechanisms for lineage-specific adaptations, such as migration, immunity, and nesting behavior.

Distance estimation by Asian honey bees in two visually different landscapes.

Abstract: Honey bees estimate distances to food sources using image motion experienced on the flight path and they use this measure to tune the waggle phase duration in their dance communication. Most studies on the dance-related odometer are based on experiments with Apis mellifera foragers trained into small tunnels with black and white patterns which allowed quantifiable changes in the optic flow. In this study, we determined the calibration curves of two Asian honey bee species, A. florea and A. cerana, in two different natural environments with clear differences in the vegetation conditions and hence visual contrast. We found that the dense vegetation condition (with higher contrast) elicited a more rapid increase in the waggle phase duration with distance than the sparse vegetation in A. florea but not in A. cerana Our findings suggest that contrast sensitivity of the waggle dance odometer might vary among honey bee species.

The red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea F.) faces the threat of extirpation in Northwest India

Abstract: Pollination is one of the essential ecosystem services. In recent years, a severe global pollinator decline has been the prime concern of pollination scientists and agriculturalists. The red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea F.) is an important pollinator of the semi-arid to tropical environments of several parts of Asia and Africa. The actual status of the colony numbers and foraging populations of this honey bee are not known. In this article, I examined the status of these parameters of this honey bee in Northwest India. I conducted monthly surveys and counted the total number of colonies of the red dwarf honey bee present at the main campus of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (India) (in about 9 km2) from 1984 to 2011 at an interval of three years. I also counted the number of foraging honey bees on two crops, viz. a winter-flowering crop, Raya (Brassica juncea Czern & Coss), and a summer-flowering crop, Carrot (Daucus carota L). In 27 years, the number of colonies of this honey bee in the study area declined from 221.5±14.1 in 1984 to 53.4±6.6 in 2011. The foraging populations of this honey bee too declined from 31.2±0.3 bees/m2 to 9.2±0.2 bees/m2 on Carrot and from 25±0.3 bees/m2 to 3.3±0.2 bees/ m2 on Raya. This honey bee exhibited a significant decline in its colony number every 6 years. Foraging bees declined significantly every three years. The colony and forager surveys revealed that the red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea F.) seemed to face the threat of extirpation (local extinction) in Northwest India. This decline in the colony numbers and the foraging populations seemed to have caused a pollination crisis in this region. The decline in the colony numbers and the foraging populations seemed to be caused by the poisoning of foraging bees due to the excessive and indiscriminate use of insecticides on the Cotton and/or Rice crops that come in blooms during the floral dearth period of this region. Considered the importance of this honey bee in the pollination of crops, we suggested that this honey bee must be vigorously protected and conserved.

Gut microbiota associated with two species of domesticated honey bees from Thailand

Abstract: Honey bees are universally known to play a critical role in mediating pollination. Recently, attention has been drawn to the influence of gut microbiota on bee health. Studies on the honey bee (Apis mellifera) gut community have become widely appreciated due to conserved phylotypes of gut microbiota. Here, we focused on profiling the gut microbiota of two honey bee species native to Thailand, Apis florea (dwarf honey bee; LB) and Apis dorsata (giant honey bee; GB). Despite inhabiting the same landscape, different Apis species might have different gut microbial profiles. Analysis of gut bacterial diversity and community composition of LB and GB honey bees using deep 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed major differences in bacterial diversity (OTUs) and abundance of core members in the gut of the two species. Lower species evenness was observed in LB than in GB (P < 0.01). Our results also show that gut microbial communities within LB were dominated by Lactobacillus (P < 0.001), while Gilliamella (P < 0.01) and Snodgrassella (P < 0.05) were predominantly associated with GB. Overall, our study has provided a preliminary overview of the gut microbiota of two honey bee species in Thailand. Further study should therefore focus on the association of host ecology and behavior with the bee gut microbiome.

A Survey of Common Pathogens of Apis spp. in Wild Non-Cave Honeybees in Southwest China.

Abstract: Honeybees are crucial pollinators with significant ecologic value. The decline of wild honeybee populations has been recognized and documented during recent decades. However, the health status of wild non-cave Apis spp., including giant and dwarf honeybees, remains generally unknown. We investigated eight common viruses and five bacterial or fungal pathogens in four wild non-cave honeybee species at 11 locations in Southwest China. As a result, Melissococcus plutonius, the pathogenic agent of European foulbrood, was detected in all the species, and the sequences were identical to the pathogen in managed cave honeybees. Only one virus, black queen cell virus (BQCV), was positive in one dwarf species, Apis florea, in our study. The positive BQCV infected three A. florea colonies in Guangxi Province, with distinct sequences from this virus reported in cave honeybees or in the same host in the nearby Yunnan Province. Although our results indicated a low pathogenic level of common diseases in the wild non-cave Apis spp. in Southwest China, the conservation of these wild pollinators is of importance in light of the noticeable decline in populations and the irreplaceable position of pollination.

Antibacterial activity of raw honey of three bee species collected from Kannad Taluka of Aurangabad district

Abstract: The aim of present investigation was to study the antibacterial activity of raw honey of three bee species collected from Kannad taluka of Aurangabad district. Honey samples were collected and assayed against four bacterial species by using Agar well diffusion method. All honey samples showed sensitivity against four bacterial species. Zone of inhibition clearly showed that honey obtained from Apis florea and Apis cerana indica was highest antibacterial activity, while honey of Apis dorsata was minimum antibacterial activity. Antibacterial activity showed that Bacillus subtilis was more sensitive than Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Gut Bacterial Inhabitants of Open Nested Honey Bee, Apis Florea

Abstract: Honey bees are complex social system, which are highly dynamic having close interactions with their surrounding environment. Gut microbiota of honey bees has a major role in interaction behavior with its environment and health. Apis florea is the primitive among all the honey bees and are indigenous to Indian subcontinent. The study reports the identification and analysis of bacteria in the gut of wild species of honey bee, Apis florea, by culture-based and culture-independent methods. Cultured bacteria were identified and characterized by MALDI-TOF MS and 16S rRNA sequencing. A comprehensive analysis and identification of non-culturable bacteria were performed by 16S rRNA amplicon next generation sequencing. The sequence analysis approach classified gut bacteria into 5 bacterial phyla, 8 families and 10 genera in major. The dominant bacterial taxa identified in Apis florea belonged to Prevotellaceae (52.1%), Enterobacteriaceae (42.7%) and Halobacteriaceae (1.3%). The dominant bacteria belonged to genera of Prevotella, Escherichia-Shigella, Natronomonas, Methylobacterium, Pantoea, Bifidobacterium, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Lactobacillus and Nitrobacter belonging to phyla Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Euryarchaeota, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. Many of these bacteria identified herewith are not reported for their occurrence in others species of Apis genus making this study of highly relevance with respect to bee microbiome.

Leafhopper (Idioscopus spp.) excreted honeydew distracts honey bees (Apis spp.) from visiting mango (Mangifera indica L.) flowers: an indirect loss inflicted by the sucking pests hitherto unaccounted

Abstract: Honeydew is a sugar-rich sweet substance excreted by the phloem-feeding herbivorous insects like aphids, leafhoppers, mealybugs and scales of the Order Hemiptera. The honeydew is generally deposite...

United States port interceptions and predicted climate suitability of the red dwarf honeybee, Apis florea (Hymenoptera: Apidae), with notes on its identification

Abstract: We analyzed the port interceptions of the red dwarf honeybee, Apis (Micrapis) florea and undetermined species of Apis from regions where the A. florea is present. We also provide information on the potential distribution of this species globally and for the USA by using two climatic suitability models: Plant Hardiness Zones and Maxent. The results show several significant interceptions at US ports of entry in the last 10 years, including complete colonies associated with sea containers. In addition, the climatic models showed suitable areas in warmer regions of the world, and Southern and Western USA. Finally, we provide some additional notes for the diagnosis of the females and males of A. florea, including some novel characters from the gonangulum and the sting blades, both parts of the complex sting apparatus of the workers.

Genome-wide survey of odorant-binding proteins in the dwarf honey bee Apis florea

Abstract: Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) in insects bind to volatile chemical cue and help in their binding to odorant receptors. The odor coding hypothesis states that OBPs may bind with specificity to certain volatiles and aid the insect in various behaviours. Honeybees are eusocial insects with complex behaviour that requires olfactory inputs. Here, we have identified and annotated odorant binding proteins from the genome of the dwarf honey bee, Apis florea using an exhaustive homology-based bioinformatic pipeline and analyzed the evolutionary relationships between the OBP subfamilies. Our study suggests that Minus-C subfamily may have diverged from the Classic subfamily of odorant binding proteins in insects.

Terminalia arjuna: An Important Subsistence Pollen Source for Apis florea During Spring Season in Southern West Bengal

Abstract: Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wight & Arn., a large evergreen tree, shows massive flowering during spring season (March–April). The floral characteristics with deep seated nectar having high sugar concentration serve this plant as an important pollen and nectar source for Apis bees. The inflorescences with clusters of flowers of this plant provide an excellent platform for foraging by Apis florea Fabr. In spite of diverse angiospermic flora in the present study area, A. florea intends to forage this handsome evergreen taxon because of its nutritious pollen and highest percentage of nectar sugar concentration. In the present article, pollen analysis of eight spring honey samples from different regions of Purulia district of West Bengal reveals that T. arjuna is found to be the predominant pollen type. So, a mutualistic relationship has been established between A. florea and T. arjuna. This plant taxon serves as a key nectar source for A. florea and takes the advantage of its highly nutritious pollen grains for increasing the colony and its strong nectar flow for honey production during the spring season in this southern part of Bengal. A. florea also foraged other angiospermic taxa such as Pedilanthus tithymaloides L., Croton bonplandianum Baill., Citrus, Solanum, Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth., Semecarpus anacardium L., Flacourtia jamgomas Lour., Psidium guajava L., Borassus flabellifer L., Tamarindus indica L., Lannea coromandelica (Houtt.) Merr. and Asteraceae.