Crosses between African and European honeybees in Brazil resulted in a highly defensive hybrid bee. The acid gland is important in the expression of this characteristic, being responsible for venom production. Morphological variations in this gland could influence the quantity of venom. Glandular morphology was analyzed, along with the quantity of venom produced and the bees' genetic characteristics. The gland and the venom reservoir were removed from workers. The gland was placed on a histological frame for measurement and the contents of the reservoir were weighed. The results were submitted to an analysis of regression and submitted to Test Z, to evaluate the differences between the averages. The phenotypes were evaluated according to the standard found in literature. Gland length varied from 7.42 mm to 20.33 mm, the quantity of venom from 0.19 mg to 0.34 mg, and as far as the genetic characteristics are concerned, 63.3% of the colonies had workers with large glands. In 53.3% of the colonies, 90% of individuals had simple glands, suggesting the evolutionary process leading to the loss of branching, since the presence of branching indicates primitiveness. The production of venom is associated with the length of the gland and branching does not influence the quantity of venom. There was no statistical difference between the size of the branched and simple glands or in the quantity of venom produced, therefore the large glands can favor commercial exploration of venom, producing larger quantities.
This research was developed in the center-urban area at the city of Dourados (MS), in Tibouchina granulosa trees, a plant popularly known as “quaresmeira” in Brazil. The floral visitors of this species were recorded in three daily periods: 7 - 8 a.m., 1 – 2 p.m. and 4 – 5 p. m. Bee visitors of those plants were collected with an entomological net when they landed on the flowers. The bees were anesthetized in a closed camera containing etila acetate, conserved in Dietrich´s fixative and, soon afterwards, transferred to 70% ethyl alcohol for subsequent identification. Almost 300 specimens of Africanized Apis mellifera, Trigona spinipes and Tetragonisca angustula were collected. The presence of these three species of bees in the flowers of T. granulosa suggests that they can be considered the main floral visitors of that vegetal species. T. angustula workers did not visit the flowers of T. granulosa between 7 and 8 a.m., but they were the main floral visitors from 4 to 5 p.m. The workers of T. spinipes presented a very aggressive behavior against the Africanized A. mellifera workers on the quaresmeira flowers, defending the food sources with strength and efficiency and provoking a drastic reduction in the number of honeybee visits between 1 and 2 p.m. Nevertheless, they did not interfere in the opportunistic activity of foraging by T. angustula workers, mainly between 4 and 5 p.m. The most important result of this research was the detection of the Competitive Exclusion Principle between A. mellifera and T. spinipes species in relation to the foraging behavior, when they exploit the floral resources of T. granulosa.
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