scholarly journals Notes on the biology of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) opacum Brèthes (Hymenoptera; Crabronidae) in Southern Brazil

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 907-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. T. Buschini ◽  
L. L. Wolff

The present study investigated the abundance, seasonality and various life-history traits of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) opacum. Using trap-nests, 320 nests of T. opacum were collected in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias in Southern Brazil (25° 23' 36" S and 51° 27' 19" W) over a 3 year period. Nesting was more frequent during the warm season. Nests consisted of a linear series of 1 to 8 brood cells separated by mud partitions, usually followed by an empty vestibular cell and final-closure mud plug. Brood cells were most commonly provisioned with spiders of the family Araneidae. Sex-ratio was strongly female biased, 3.4:1 females:males. Natural enemies attacking nests T. opacum included chrysidids, ichneumonids, sarcophagids, bombyliids and ants.

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 919-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. T. Buschini ◽  
F. Niesing ◽  
L. L. Wolff

This study was carried in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias in the municipality of Guarapuava, state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. Three hundred and sixty five nests of T. lactitarse were obtained using trap-nests of 0.7, 1.0, and 1.3 cm in diameter. All of them had similar architecture, regardless of the diameter of the trap-nest. Completed nests consisted of a linear series of brood cells whose average number per nest was of 3.3, 4.0 and 3.6 for the nests with 0.7 cm, 1.0 cm and 1.3 cm in diameter, respectively. They were constructed more often during the summer. T. lactitarse had two types of life cycles: direct development (without diapause), and delayed development (with diapause during winter). Natural enemies included Chrysididae, Sarcophagidae, Dolichopodidae and Ichneumonidae. Out of 1,353 identified spider prey, 1,313 belonged to the Araneidae family.


2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel C. Fitz ◽  
◽  
Cesar A. Rodenbusch ◽  
Renato B. Dala-Corte ◽  
Marco A. Azevedo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Life history traits of Characidium pterostictum Gomes, 1947 (Characiformes, Crenuchidae) from three different reaches of the upper Sinos river, southern Brazil, were described and comparatively analyzed according to the longitudinal gradient. For all reaches, results indicated a seasonal reproductive strategy with a higher intensity during warmer months of higher photoperiod (November to February). Only females were found in the upstream reach and they were more numerous than males in all the sampled reaches. Mean absolute fecundity ranged from 5189 (±2131 SD) to 7394 (±3807 SD), whereas mean relative fecundity (oocytes per mg of female total weight) ranged from 1.08 (±0.40 SD) to 1.12 (±0.29 SD). Oocyte development was characterized as synchronic in two groups, typical of total spawning. Longitudinal gradient comparison suggests that body size (standard length) of C. pterostictum individuals and sex ratio were the only characteristics that differed between sampled reaches. Larger individuals and thus females tended to be more frequently found in upstream reaches of the Sinos river, with a decrease in body size and in the proportional number of females towards downstream.


2014 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 231-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
MLT Buschini ◽  
ACB Bergamaschi

The life history and sex ratio data of the solitary wasp Trypoxylon agamemnon nesting in trap-nests in southern Brazil was recorded from January 2002 to December 2007. Its sex ratio is strongly female-biased, being bivoltine or multivoltine with until three generations per year. It has two alternative life histories (diapause and direct development) and overlapping generations. In addition to the conflict of interest between the sexes, it is possible that local mate competition occurs between males and may cause a greater investment in the production of females.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Sara Straffon Díaz ◽  
Luca Carisio ◽  
Aulo Manino ◽  
Paolo Biella ◽  
Marco Porporato

Megachile sculpturalis (Smith, 1853) is the first exotic bee species in Europe. Its remarkably fast expansion across this continent is leading to a growing concern on the extent of negative impacts to the native fauna. To evaluate the interactions of exotic bees with local wild bees, we set up trap nests for above-ground nesting bees on a semi-urban area of north-western Italy. We aimed to investigate the interaction in artificial traps between the exotic and native wild bees and to assess offspring traits accounting for exotic bee fitness: progeny sex ratio and incidence of natural enemies. We found that the tunnels occupied by exotic bees were already cohabited by O. cornuta, and thus the cells of later nesting alien bees may block the native bee emergence for the next year. The progeny sex ratio of M. sculpturalis was strongly unbalanced toward males, indicating a temporary adverse population trend in the local invaded area. In addition, we documented the presence of three native natural enemies affecting the brood of the exotic bee. Our results bring out new insights on how the M. sculpturalis indirectly competes with native species and on its performance in new locations.


2014 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 493-500
Author(s):  
MLT. Buschini ◽  
CE. Buss

Podium angustifrons Kohl 1902 is a species of solitary wasp which nests in pre-existing cavities, with neotropical distribution in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and French Guyana. The aim of this study was to investigate the nesting biology of P. angustifrons, discussing aspects of their life history. To capture its nests, wooden trap-nests were installed in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias, Guarapuava (PR), Brazil, from January 2003 to April 2009. A total of 29 nests were collected, all during the warmer months. These showed no vestibular and intercalary cells, and their closures were made up of chewed plants and mud mixed with organic materials and resin-coated surfaces, sometimes showing a layer of lichens. The cells were provisioned with various wild species of cockroaches (Chorisoneura sp, Riata sp and Helgaia sp) in the nymph stage and/or adults. The sex ratio was 4.6 females per male, significantly higher that the expected 1:1. Most pre-pupae entered diapause in winter with development time ranging from 187 to 283 days for females and 180 to 283 days for males. Deaths occurred in 41.66% of cells provisioned, 33.33% were attributed to faulty development and 8.33% to Chrysididae.


2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Kwet

AbstractA new species of Pseudis is described from São Francisco de Paula, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is known from the southern parts of the Serra Geral where it occurs in grassland, inhabiting permanent ponds and still-water zones of slow flowing creeks. It is characterized by a paired vocal sac and a bulbous thumb, considerably widened at the base. It is distinguished from P. minutus by its different call, body coloration, rounded snout, and a more robust body with shorter hindlimbs. Advertisement call, tadpole, and life history are described. The taxonomy of the family Pseudidae in Rio Grande do Sul is discussed, supporting the synonymy of Lysapsus mantidactylus and P. meridionalis with P. minutus.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julliana Barretto ◽  
Martha L Baena ◽  
Israel Huesca Domínguez ◽  
Federico Escobar

Abstract While theory suggests that at conception the sex ratio should be balanced (1:1), this can be variable across space and time in wild populations. Currently, studies of the environmental factors that regulate adult sex ratio (ASR) in species with different life-history traits are scarce. Using capture-recapture over a year, we analyzed the influence of habitat type (forest and non-forest) and season (rainy and dry) on variation in ASR, male aggregation and the trajectory movement of two dung beetle species with different life-history traits: Deltochilum mexicanum (a hornless roller species) and Dichotomius satanas (a tunneler species with horns on its head and thorax). We found opposite tendencies. The D. mexicanum population tends to be female-biased, but the population of D. satanas tends to be predominantly male, and observed values were not related to habitat type or season. However, the 95% confidence intervals estimated were highly variable between seasons depending on habitat. On examining the monthly variation in ASR for both habitats, we found that it depends on the species. In addition, male aggregation differed between species depending on habitat type and season, and species movement patterns were closely related to their habitat preferences. Based on our results, we argue that comparative population studies of species with different life-history traits are necessary to understand the variation in demographic parameters as well as its ecological and evolutionary implications in the face of spatial and climatic environmental variation.


Herpetozoa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 211-219
Author(s):  
Gabriel Suárez-Varón ◽  
Orlando Suárez-Rodríguez ◽  
Gisela Granados-González ◽  
Maricela Villagrán-Santa Cruz ◽  
Kevin M. Gribbins ◽  
...  

Clutch size (CS) and relative clutch mass (RCM) are considered important features in life history descriptions of species within Squamata. Variations in these two characteristics are caused by both biotic and abiotic factors. The present study provides the first account related to CS and RCM ofBasiliscus vittatusin Mexico within a population that inhabits an open riverbed juxtapositioned to tropical rainforest habitat in Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico (170 m a.s.l.). Twenty-nine gravid females were collected and kept in captivity under favorable conditions that promote oviposition. The CS within this population was 6.2 ± 0.2 and was correlated positively with snout vent-length (SVL); while the RCM was 0.17 ± 0.006 and was correlated positively with both CS and width of egg. Factors, such as female morphology and environmental conditions, should influence these reproductive traits inB. vittatus. The data collected in this study could provide a framework for comparisons of the life history traits across populations ofB. vittatusin Mexico and within other species of the family Corytophanidae and provide a model for testing how abiotic and biotic factors may influence the CS and RCM in basilisk lizards throughout their range.


2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 741-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Poulin

Taxa that include both free-living and parasitic lineages present opportunities to examine if and how the life-history traits of parasitic organisms have diverged from those of their free-living relatives. In a comparative analysis the body sizes and numbers of body segments of parasitic polychaetes of the family Oenonidae were compared with those of free-living polychaetes from closely related families. There was no difference in body length between oenonids and free-living polychaetes. However, the parasitic oenonids attain, on average, a much higher number of body segments than their free-living counterparts. The number of segments per unit body length is also much higher in oenonids than in related free-living polychaetes. This suggests that new segments are produced at a higher rate or for longer periods in oenonids than in free-living polychaetes, in which the proliferation of new segments slows down over time to allow for the segments to grow in size. Given that each segment can produce gametes late in the life of the worm, the proliferation of segments in oenonids may be an adaptation to their parasitic life-style.


1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (S1) ◽  
pp. 48-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A Marschall ◽  
Thomas P Quinn ◽  
Derek A Roff ◽  
Jeffrey A Hutchings ◽  
Neil B Metcalfe ◽  
...  

We took a hierarchical approach to understanding Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) life history patterns by first comparing salmonids to other teleosts, next comparing Atlantic salmon to other salmonids, and finally, mapping correlations among individual life history traits within Atlantic salmon. The combination of anadromy, large eggs, nest construction and egg burial by females, and large size at maturity differentiates salmonids from most other teleosts. Within the family Salmonidae, there is considerable variation in all traits but Atlantic salmon are generally in the middle of the range. Within Atlantic salmon, we were able to map correlations among individual life history traits, but we found that we still lacked an understanding comprehensive and quantitative enough to allow us to predict how the entire life history should respond to environmental changes. Thus, we proposed several general courses of action: (i) use models to synthesize complex patterns and relationships, (ii) collect long time series of data in individual systems, and (iii) design experiments to assess phenotypic plasticity and how environmental influences differ from genetic effects and constraints.


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