Nest Architecture and Nesting Site Preference of Tetragonula iridipennis Smith in North-Western Plains of India

Stingless bees constitute an important group of bee diversity providing a vital ecological service i.e. pollination. From India, nine species of stingless bees have been reported out of which Tetragonula iridipennis Smith is widely distributed. Studies revealed that the majority (86.67%) of these bees’ nests were present in brick walls and the remaining (13.33%) were in cavities of hollow tree trunks. Most of the colonies nested at a height of 3.50 m from the ground. Most of the nests (56.67%) had entrances oriented to the east. No distinct entrance tube was observed in 26.92 per cent of the colonies. Overall average entrance tube dimensions (longer side diameter × shorter side diameter × tube length) were 11.62 × 11.73 × 14.04 mm. In all the nests, brood area was surrounded by pollen pots and a few honey pots. The mean dimensions (depth × width) of brood cells, honey pots and pollen pots were 2.79 × 2.62 mm, 5.33 × 4.52 mm and 6.93 × 5.19 mm, respectively. All of the sixty colonies whether in brick/stone walls or in hollow tree trunks overwintered successfully. Our results can be useful for developing conservation measures for T. iridipennis and its augmentation for crop pollination.

Cracking failure of curved hollow tree trunks

Understanding the failure modes of curved hollow tree trunks is essential from both safety and conservation perspectives. Despite extensive research, the underlying mechanism that determines the cracking failure of curved hollow tree trunks remains unclear due to the lack of theoretical analysis that considers both the initial curvature and orthotropic material properties. Here we derive new mathematical expressions for predicting the bending moment, M crack , at which the cracking failure occurs. The failure mode of a tree species is then determined, as a function of t / R and cR , by comparing M crack with M bend , where t , R and c are, respectively, the trunk wall thickness, outer radius and initial curvature; M bend is the bending moment for conventional bending failure. Our equation shows that M crack is proportional to the tangential tensile strength of wood σ T , increases with t / R , and decreases with the final cR . We analyse 11 tree species and find that hardwoods are more likely to fail in conventional bending, whereas softwoods tend to break due to cracking. This is due to the softwoods' much smaller tangential tensile strength, as observed from the data of 66 hardwoods and 43 softwoods. For larger cR , cracking failure is easier to occur in curvature-decreasing bending than curvature-increasing due to additional normal tensile force F acting on the neutral cross-section; on the other hand, for smaller cR , bending failure is easier to occur due to decreased final curvature. Our formulae are applicable to other natural and man-made curved hollow beams with orthotropic material properties. Our findings provide insights for those managing trees in urban situations and those managing for conservation of hollow-dependent fauna in both urban and rural settings.

Thysanoptera caught by emergence trapping from oak trees at Hamilton High Parks, South Lanarkshire, including Hoplothrips semicaecus (Uzel) new to Scotland

A survey of the saproxylic invertebrate fauna of the Cadzow oaks parkland, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, part of the Hamilton High Parks Site of Special Scientific Interest, was undertaken between April 2017 and April 2018, with additional prior test trapping having started in August 2016. Several different search methodologies were utilised, including Owen emergence traps, flight interception traps, hollow tree traps, and rot hole traps. Large numbers of a non-target group of insects - thrips (Order Thysanoptera) - were noted in some of the traps from the first batch to be examined and separated out for analysis. A total of 370 individuals from eight species was identified, with 85.1% of these thrips being collected by three Owen emergence traps, a novel methodology for determining the presence, or abundance, of dispersing Thysanoptera. The majority (92.4%) of the thrips represented two fungal-feeding phlaeothripid species, Hoplothrips pedicularius and H. semicaecus. This is the first report of H. semicaecus from Scotland.

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON SPECIES COMPOSITION AND DETERIORATION OF CROP PLANTATIONS AND FOREST FLORA BY PORCUPINES IN CONSORT WITH CONTROL TECHNIQUES

The goal of this article is to inform community regarding porcupines damage, and deliver guidelines for their harmless, real and liable elimination. The utmost apparent attribute of porcupines is their extensive, piercing and shakable quills, which shelter backs of the physiques that make them hit, as a threatening to probable raiders. In general, porcupines occur the maximum in mountainous and gravelly states, however these may adjust in many territories like extremely wet plantations and somewhat territory comprising of prairies, foothills, deserts and tropical forests. Porcupines can become a pest by eating of carrots and other root vegetables, clovers, roots, fruits as well as foraging on the farm crops. A definite indication of porcupine burrow is a mound of feces at entering site of cave or hollow tree. In this global region, Hystrix indica Kerr is most plentiful and scattered species, and has been familiarized as a severe pest of fruit orchards, vegetables, flowering plants, forage grasses in pastures or rangelands and traditional as well as non-traditional crops. When porcupines inflict optimum damage, then their control actions must be adopted. A pest controlling expert can provide skill to recognize the porcupines problematic and decide the superlative promising way out to decide the pest annoyance. Prior to executing a loss managing method, evaluate the porcupines incidence by means of watching for shattered quills, fecal masses beneath nourishing and sleeping plants, or distinctive injury marks to trees in a region. Manipulate habitat to attract more natural predators to control porcupine populations, place aluminum flashing around mature tree trunks and enclose small trees with wire baskets, and enclosure areas with electric or nonelectric fencing, to stop porcupines from gnawing at their bark. Implement forest management practices to reduce food supply and some wood preservatives applied to trees, and use of poison baits may provide partial damage relief. During late spring and summer activity periods, shooting of pest is most effective option, and use steel leg-hold traps lured by salt-soaked ingredients and placing proximate to alive burrows or else frequently used tracks.

Hollow tree fire is a useless forest fire category

In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the term “hollow tree fire“ was first used in a publication in 1956 without being well defined and was then uncritically used in other publications. The term refers to fires occurring in the rotted, inner trunks of trees. The main aim of the current study was to determine whether the term should be considered a useful category for the statistical analysis of forest fires. The nature and causes of fires from 2006–2015 were assessed by performing a detailed analysis of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic (FRS CR) database. The database included a total of 7,256 fires in the natural environment, but only 18 of these were hollow tree fires. Most hollow tree fires were initiated by human carelessness, and only three were initiated by lightning. Based on our critical consideration of fire attributes, hollow tree fires should not be considered a category of forest fire. The presence of rotten trees is, however, a serious problem because such trees represent long-lasting sources of fire in forest stands and because they complicate firefighting. The numbers of rotten trees in forests is increasing, and firefighters should be made aware of the complications of extinguishing fires involving rotten trees in forests.

Termorregulação em colônias de Melipona eburnea (Apidae: Meliponina) criadas racionalmente em Rio Branco, Acre

Resumo. A temperatura é o agente climático que afeta mais diretamente o metabolismo das abelhas, influenciando no desenvolvimento das crias, podendo acarretar resultados negativos para produção de mel. O objetivo deste estudo foi conhecer a diferença da termorregulação de colônias de Melipona eburnea Friese. As observações foram realizadas en­tre 09 de junho e 09 de julho de 2016, 24 horas por dia, utilizando-se dois ninhos de M. eburnea, um em caixa racional e outro em troncode árvore. Utilizou-se Data Logger(modelo HOBO U12 – 012), com exatidão de ±0,35 °C. Verificou-se que o ninho de M. eburnea em oco de árvore manteve uma temperatura média de 31,7 ºC, enquanto que o ninho em caixa racional apresentou temperatura média de 27,8 ºC. A temperatura ambiente variou de 16,6 a 34,2 °C, com média de 23,8 ºC. A espécie M. eburnea em caixa racional apresentou termorregulação inferior à colônia em oco de árvore e também maior oscilação de temperatura. Concluiu-se que M. eburnea mantém sua colônia em homeostase, mesmo quando há variações na temperatura ambiente (ninho em oco de árvore). M. eburnea apresentou termorregulação insatisfatória, quando mantida em caixa racional.Thermoregulation in colonies of Melipona eburnea Friese(Apidae: Meliponina) rationally bred in Rio Branco, AcreAbstract. Temperature is the climatic agent that most directly affects the metabolism of bees, influencing at the development of the young being able lead to negative results for honey production. The objective of this study was to know the difference of thermoregulation of Melipona eburnea Friese colonies. The observations were made between June 9 and July 9, 2016, 24 hours a day, using two nests of M. eburnea, one in rational box and the other in tree trunk. Was used Data Logger (model HOBO U12-012) was used, with accuracy of ± 0.35 °C. Was verified that the nest of M. eburnea in tree hollow maintained an average temperature of 31.7 ºC, whereas the that nest in rational box presented average temperature of 27.8 ºC. The ambient temperature ranged from 16.6 to 34.2 ºC, with a mean of 23.8 °C. The species M. eburnea in rational box presented inferior thermoregulation to the colony in tree hollow and also greater temperature oscillation. It was concluded that M. eburnea maintains its colony in homeostasis, even when there are variations in the ambient temperature (nest in hollow tree). M. eburnea presented unsatisfactory thermoregulation when kept in rational box.