Gynandromorphy in Eulaema atleticana Nemésio (Apidae, Euglossini)

Abstract

A gynandromorph specimen of Eulaema atleticana Nemésio, the first registered in Eulaema, is described. The E. atleticana gynandromorph was captured using an eucalyptol scent trap, in the Mata do Buraquinho Reserve, an Atlantic Forest fragment. The study site has 550 ha and is located in the urban area of the Municipality of João Pessoa, State of Paraíba, Northeast Brazil. The specimen presents antero-posterior and bilateral asymmetry. The head presents only male morphological characteristics. The mesosoma is composed by male and female structures, with male fore and middle legs. The right hind tibia shows a mosaic of male and female characters, with rudiments of the tibial organ and a corbicula. The metasoma presents only female characters.
 Gynandromorfia em Eulaema atleticana Nemésio (Apidae, Euglossini)
 Resumo. É descrito um espécime ginandromorfo de Eulaema atleticana Nemésio. O primeiro registrado em Eulaema. O espécime foi coletado em armadilha de cheiro, na reserva da Mata do Buraquinho, um fragmento de Mata Atlântica, localizado no perímetro urbano da cidade de João Pessoa, Paraíba, Nordeste, Brasil. O espécime apresenta assimetria bilateral e anteroposterior. A cabeça possui apenas caracteres de macho. O mesossoma é composto por caracteres de macho e fêmea, com as pernas anteriores e medianas apresentando caracteres de macho. Nas pernas posteriores, a tíbia direita apresenta um mosaico de caracteres masculinos e femininos com rudimentos do órgão tibial e da corbícula. Todas as características do metassoma são de fêmea.

First Case of Gynandromorphism in the Orchid-Bee Eulaema meriana (Olivier) (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…Meriana corresponds with all reports of orchid-bee gynanders, where male and female structures were distributed in patches throughout the body. However, the distribution of characters was irregular among body sections in prior cases (Giangarelli & Sofia, 2011;Hinojosa-Díaz et al, 2012;Silveira et al, 2012;Camargo & Gonçalves, 2013;González, 2014;Suzuki et al, 2015) (see Table 1), establishing a pattern of phenotypic intersexual anomalies in Euglossini. This aligns with the trend of most known cases of gynandromorph bees worldwide that present this gynandromorph type (Wcislo et al, 2004;Michez et al, 2009;Hinojosa-Díaz et al, 2012).…”

“…However, the hind wing jugal comb on both sides (male feature) and female terminalia would classify this case as mixed or mosaic gynandromorphy. The other known case within the genus, Eulaema atleticana Nemésio (Silveira et al, 2012), is also classified as mixed. Still, it differs from the case presented here because it does not present bilateral sexual secondary characteristics.…”

“…Some cases of gynandromorphism in orchid bees have been reported in the last decade. The first was in Euglossa iopoecila Dressler (Giangarelli & Sofia, 2011), and several cases have been reported since: Euglossa tridentata Moure (Silveira et al, 2012), Euglossa pleosticta Dressler (Camargo & Gonçalves, 2013), Euglossa gorgonensis Cheesman (González, 2014) and Euglossa melanotricha Moure (Suzuki et al, 2015).…”