Acute and oral exposure to imidacloprid does not affect the number of circulating hemocytes in the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata post immune challenge

In the present work, the effects of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid formulation on the total hemocyte counts (THC) and differential hemocyte counts (DHC) were investigated in foraging workers of the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata under (or not) the challenge with the bacteria Escherichia coli. The THC was not altered with the insecticide exposure and/or bacterial infection. However, the DHC of the bees changed with the imidacloprid exposure and/or bacterial infection. The number of prohemocytes (stem cells) increased in bees exposed to imidacloprid, but it did not change after the bacterial infection. The number of plasmatocytes (phagocytic cells) increased in imidacloprid-exposed and uninfected bees and decreased in infected bees regardless of the exposure to imidacloprid. On the other hand, there was a reduction of granulocytes, the most active immune cells, after imidacloprid exposure and an increase of granulocytes after the infection. Previous studies have shown that the neonicotinoids exposure can impair the immune system of bees. Our findings showed that the relative number of granulocytes declined with imidacloprid exposure, but the overall capacity of hemocyte responses in terms of total numbers after bacterial infection persisted even after the insecticide exposure.

Comparative study on the use of specific and heterologous microsatellite primers in the stingless bees Melipona rufiventris and M. mondury (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Due to their high degree of polymorphism, microsatellites are considered useful tools for studying population genetics. Nevertheless, studies of genetic diversity in stingless bees by means of these primers have revealed a low level of polymorphism, possibly the consequence of the heterologous primers used, since in most cases these were not specifically designed for the species under consideration. Herein we compared the number of polymorphic loci and alleles per locus, as well as observed heterozygosity in Melipona rufiventris and M. mondury populations, using specific and heterologous primers. The use of specific primers placed in evidence the greater frequency of polymorphic loci and alleles per locus, besides an expressive increase in observed heterozygosity in M. rufiventris and M. mondury, thereby reinforcing the idea that populational studies should be undertaken by preferably using species-specific microsatellite primers.