Conventional agriculture affects sex communication and impacts local population size in a wild bee.

Man-made agricultural stressors have been identified to compromise the reproductive dynamics of bee populations within agricultural environments. With the aid of bee hotels, we explored the influence of conventional and organic farming systems on local population size and body traits of the mason bee, Osmia bicornis, in southern Germany. We further used a chemical ecology approach and bioassays to test whether farming management influence male pre-copulatory behaviors.

Post-fire temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator communities in a tropical savanna.

Fire is a major ecological and evolutionary factor promoting biodiversity and maintaining functioning of naturally fire-prone ecosystems. In tropical savannas, plant communities show a set of fire-adapted traits and both flowering and pollination services have the potential to rapidly regenerate after fire, but fire-suppression policies may disrupt this adaptability following potential woody encroachment. Understanding the effects of fire on plant-pollinator interactions are required to advance conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Survival rate and changes in foraging performances of solitary bees exposed to a novel insecticide.

Solitary bees are among the most important pollinators worldwide however population declines especially in croplands has been noticed. The novel pesticide sulfoxaflor is a competitive modulator of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) in insects. While there is evidence of a negative impact of neonicotinoids on bees of several social organization levels, our overall knowledge on the impact of sulfoxaflor on bees is poor.

High turnover of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) species in semideciduous forest remnants in an agricultural landscape.

Differences in species composition between sites (β diversity) may be the result of spatial species replacement (turnover) or nestedness (subgroups of species from a more diverse site). In fragmented landscapes, the environmental factors that lead to these differences may be spatially structured. Herein, our objective is to determine if the β diversity of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) is due to turnover or nestedness and whether the observed pattern is due to loss of forest cover or spatial processes in forest remnants immersed in a matrix dominated by intense agricultural practice.

Environmental Display Can Buffer the Effect of Pesticides on Solitary Bees.

Environmental quality (e.g., diversity of resource availability, nesting sites, environmental display) plays an important role in an animal's life.

Species Richness and Community Composition of Ants and Beetles in Bt and non-Bt Maize Fields.

Insect-resistant genetically modified (GM) plants have been cultivated in several countries on a large scale. These plants express the Cry toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) (Bt), which confers target-pest resistance to plants. Studies on the effects of GM plants on nontarget organisms are important to assess the technology's impact on biodiversity.

Changes in social behavior are induced by pesticide ingestion in a Neotropical stingless bee.

Throughout evolutionary history bees have developed complex communication systems. For social bees, communication is important for both the individual and the development of the colony. Successful communication helps bees to recognize relatives, defend the colony, and promote recruitment to optimize foraging of floral resources.

Geographic distribution of phlebotomine sandfly species (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Central-West Brazil.

This study updates the geographic distributions of phlebotomine species in Central-West Brazil and analyses the climatic factors associated with their occurrence. The data were obtained from the entomology services of the state departments of health in Central-West Brazil, scientific collections and a literature review of articles from 1962-2014. Ecological niche models were produced for sandfly species with more than 20 occurrences using the Maxent algorithm and eight climate variables.

Predicting the geographic distribution of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) and visceral leishmaniasis in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

To understand the geographic distribution of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil, both the climatic niches of Lutzomyia longipalpis and VL cases were analysed. Distributional data were obtained from 55 of the 79 counties of MS between 2003-2012. Ecological niche models (ENM) of Lu.

Division of labor in colonies of the eusocial wasp, Mischocyttarus consimilis.

The division of labor between castes and the division of labor in workers according to age (temporal polyethism) in social wasps are crucial for maintaining social organization. This study evaluated the division of labor between castes, and the temporal polyethism in workers of Mischocyttarus consimilis Zikán (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). To describe the behavioral repertory of this species, observations were made of 21 colonies, with 100 hours of observations.