Nosema ceranae in South American native stingless bees and sociall wasp

GARRIDO PAULA; MULLER FERNANDO; FERNANDEZ IRIARTE PEDRO; PORRINI LEONARDO; PORRINI DARÍO; ALVAREZ LEOPOLDO; PORRINI MARTÍN; DE MELO E SILVA NETO CARLOS; NUÑEZ LAURA ALEJANDRA; EGUARAS MARTÍN J.; GARRIDO PAULA; MULLER FERNANDO; FERNANDEZ IRIARTE PEDRO; PORRINI LEONARDO; PORRINI DARÍO; ALVAREZ LEOPOLDO; PORRINI MARTÍN; DE MELO E SILVA NETO CARLOS; NUÑEZ LAURA ALEJANDRA; EGUARAS MARTÍN J.

MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2017 p. 761 - 764

0095-3628

Besides the incipient research effort, the role of parasites as drivers of the reduction affecting pollinator populations is mostly unknown. Given the worldwide extension of the beekeeping practice and the diversity of pathogens affecting Apis mellifera populations, honey bee colonies are a certain source of parasites dispersion. Here, we communicate the detection of the microsporidium Nosema ceranae, a relatively new parasite of honey bees, in stingless bees (Meliponini) and the social wasp Polybia scutellaris (Vespidae) samples from Argentina and Brazil by means of duplex-PCR. Beyond the geographic location of the nests, N. ceranae was detected in seven from the eight Meliponini species analyzed, while Nosema apis, another common parasite of A. mellifera was absent in all samples tested. Further research is necessary to determine if the presence of the parasite is also associated with stablished infection in host tissues. The obtained information enriches the current knowledge about pathologies that can infect, or at least, be vectored by native wild pollinators from South America.