Atividade sazonal e morfometria de forídeos (diptera:phoridae) e seus parasitóides em colméias da tribo meliponini (hymenoptera: apidae) na amazônia.

Abstract

Dipteres of the Phoridae family are important meliponiculture plagues in Amazon. Its larvae are extremely voracious consuming, in a short space of time, all the honey, pollen, and larval food, and eating larvae and pupas of bees. This work verifies the species of phorid that parasite beehives in meliponary in the municipal district of Amazonas (Manaus, Beruri, Cacau-Pirera, Careiro-Castanho, Jutaí, Rio Preto da Eva and Alvarães) and Pará (Alter do Chão), and evaluates the influence of the environmental factors (relative humidity, average temperature and precipitation) in the monthly frequency and morphology of different species of forídeos in meliponário GPA, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus. Its also verifies the presence of natural parasitism of microhymenopters in pupas of Pseudohypocera kerteszi Enderlein and Megaselia scalaris Loew, in the locality of Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas. In order to verify the phorid species in eight municipal district larvae, pupas and adult were collected in stinglessbee colony. Experiments for seasonal study of P. kerteszi and M. scalaris was lead in meliponary GPA/INPA in beehives of Melipona seminigra Friese, M. rufiventris Fabricius and M. compressipes manaosensis Schwarz. Adults were captured inside of the beehives using traps with wine vinegar. In each colony a bottle trap with 5 ml wine vinegar was placed. The population fluctuations had been based on the total specimen number collected monthly, determined by addition of its numbers obtained in each collection. The index Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationships between the phorid monthly frequency and climate factors. In order to verify if the specimen number collected monthly differs between weak and strong colonies used Wilcoxon test. They were taken 15 females and 5 males of P. kerteszi in each collection month. The specimens had been dissected and mounted individually in varnish on blades. Data was submitted Kruskall-Wallis test for each characteristic in each month of collection for males, females and males+females. After that, the data had been submitted to principal component analysis (PCA). The average values scores obtained from the first principal component for each sex and in each month was correlated (Correlation of Pearson) with climatic factors. In the experiment made to verify the presence of natural parasitism by microhymenopters in P. kerteszi and M. scalaris pupas twenty traps was used. In ten traps 60g of a mixture of Melipona pollen leavend and Apis honey were placed for attraction and oviposition of P. kerteszi plus 60g of honey, pollen and leavens biological for oviposition M. scalaris. On each interval of fifteen days pupas was removed. The prevalence of parasitism was calculated by the formulate P=(parasited pupas/ total pupas) x100. In eight districts 7,068 phorids were collected. Among them 96.8% was P. kerteszi, with 70,5% females and 29.5% males. M. scalaris was not found in the meliponary in Beruri, Cacau-Pirera, Carero-Castanho, jutaí and Alvarães. The percentage of females and males M. scalaris in Rio Preto da Eva was 57,2% and 42,8%, in Manaus 84.7% females and 15.3% males. In the colonies of the studied stingless bees (Melipona compressipes manaosensis, M. rufiventris and M. seminigra merrillae), the number of P. kerteszi and M. scalaris had not correlated with climatic factors. Comparing the specimen s number collected in the first year (august of 2003 the July of 2004), the number of individuals collected in the following year (august of 2004 the July of 2005) was relatively low, P. kerteszi was predominating. The Mann-Whitney test indicated that it has significant differences between males and females of P. kerteszi along the year in 17 morphometrics measures. But the changeable width of the metathorax tibia did not differ between the sexes (U =. 3211,00, P = 0,36). The first main components of the correlation matrix between measures of 18 characters of P. kerteszi in 11 months of collection in the interior of beehives of Melipona, had shown that 85.72% of the variations can be explained by the size, and that remaining 14.28% can be explained by variations in the form of the individuals. The one factors ANOVA indicated that it has significant statistical differences in the size between males and females (F = 116,52, P<0,01). The average values of the size index indicated that in general way, the females (0,41±0,06) was greaters that the males (-1,01±0,13). Correlations between the average size of the females with climatic factors was not significant. Moreover, there were significant correlation between male size and climatic factors (relative humidity, r = 0,56, P<0.01; precipitation, r = 0,33. P< 0,05; average temperature, r = - 0,61, P< 0,01). During the period of march to june of 2004 819 P. kerteszi and 1,090 of M. scalaris pupas were obtained. In this collection five Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae was emerged only in M. scalaris pupas, where prevalence of parasitism was 0,4%. In the period of may to july of 2005 2,182 P. kerteszi pupas and 4,191 M. scalaris pupas were collected. The microhymenopters found in P. kerteszi pupas were P. vindemiae (n=1) and Signiphora sp. (Signiphoridae) (n=85). The prevalence of parasitism was 3,9 %. In M. scalaris eight pupas P. vindemmiae, 104 Signiphora sp. and seven Diapriidae (Proctrupoidea) were record. The prevalence of parasitism was 2,8 %. Posterior tests will be able to show the potential for the use of these species in future programs of control.