Assemblages of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) in the Veredas of Central Brazil

Social wasps are widely distributed in Brazil, and their distribution is intimately linked to habitats and the vegetation structure. Veredas (Brazilian Palm swamps) occur in moist soils and are characterized by the almost monodominant presence of Buriti palms (Maurítia flexuosa). The insect fauna of these environments is poorly known, especially in Central Brazil. Some studies assessing the diversity of social wasps were carried out in the State of Mato Grosso, however, there are no studies performed in the palm swamps of this region. Thus, we aim in this study to investigate the composition of wasp species in six vereda environments throughout 24 months of sampling, from august 2017 to July 2019; The specimens were collected using a sweep net, in 200m transects that were subdivided into 10 3m2 parcels. To attract the wasps, we sprayed each parcel (using a backpack sprayer) with an insect attractant made from five spoons of granulated sugar and one spoon of salt dissolved in 5 liters of water. After spraying the plot, we waited 10 minutes before starting the collections and stayed another 10 minutes to sample in each plot, totaling 200 minutes of sampling per palm swamp. A total of 1062 social wasp specimens were collected, distributed in 10 genera and 36 species. The most abundant species were Polybia cf. ruficeps xantops (Richards, 1978), Angiopolybia pallens (Lepeletier, 1836), Polybia rejecta (Lepeletier, 1836), and Mischocyttarus sp. 2, which accounted for 57% of the total collected specimens in the 60 parcels. The estimated richness for the Vereda environments was 38,88 ± 0,627, approximately 41% of the 88 species of Polistinae wasps found in the Cerrado of eastern Mato Grosso.

The Diversity of Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Combination of Attractant and Different Trap Height in Cucumber Field (Cucumis sativus L.)

The main pest in the Cucurbitaceae family is the fruit fly. The common effort to control fruit flies is using a trap with methyl eugenol (ME) and cue lure (CUE) as an insect attractant. The trap height installation is also affecting the fruit fly population. The fruit fly population in the field has an important effect on the damage intensity in the commodity. This research objective was to study the distribution and diversity of fruit fly on the cucumber field with trap height installation and attractant combination. The used research method was Factorial Group Randomized Design (RAKF). The first factor was attractant combination of Metil Eugenol (ME) and Cue Lure (CUE) consisted of 6 treatment levels were K1 : 5 mL ME, K2: 5 mL ME + 1 mL CUE, K3: 5 mL ME + 3 mL CUE, K4: 5 mL ME + 5 mL CUE, K5: 5 mL ME + 7 mL CUE and K6 : 5 mL CUE. While the second factor was the high tramp installation consisted of 3 treatment levels were T1: 50 cm, T2: 100 cm, and T3: 150 cm. The treatment consisted of 3 replication on three different cucumber fields. The result showed discovered fruit fly species were eight species, B. dorsalis (Hendel), B. carambolae Drew & Hancock, B. occipitalis (Bezzi), Z. caudata (Fabricius), B. umbrosa (Fabricius), B. neocognata Drew & Hancock, Z. cucurbitae (Fabricius) and B. albistrigata (de meijere). The dominant fruit fly in each treatment in fruit fly fields was B. dorsalis (Hendel). The best treatment in trapping fruit fly was K1 (5 mL ME) with trap height installation T1 (50 cm). The diversity and species richness of fruit fly in the cucumber field was considered low and uneven.

β-Ionone: Its Occurrence and Biological Function and Metabolic Engineering

β-Ionone is a natural plant volatile compound, and it is the 9,10 and 9’,10’ cleavage product of β-carotene by the carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase. β-Ionone is widely distributed in flowers, fruits, and vegetables. β-Ionone and other apocarotenoids comprise flavors, aromas, pigments, growth regulators, and defense compounds; serve as ecological cues; have roles as insect attractants or repellants, and have antibacterial and fungicidal properties. In recent years, β-ionone has also received increased attention from the biomedical community for its potential as an anticancer treatment and for other human health benefits. However, β-ionone is typically produced at relatively low levels in plants. Thus, expressing plant biosynthetic pathway genes in microbial hosts and engineering the metabolic pathway/host to increase metabolite production is an appealing alternative. In the present review, we discuss β-ionone occurrence, the biological activities of β-ionone, emphasizing insect attractant/repellant activities, and the current strategies and achievements used to reconstruct enzyme pathways in microorganisms in an effort to to attain higher amounts of the desired β-ionone.